Journal: Materials Today Bio

Article Title: Modulating cell surface chemistry through mild reduction reinforces extracellular-to-intracellular transmission forces and mechano-signaling

doi: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2026.102908

Figure Lengend Snippet: TCEP-induced mild reduction of the cell surface promotes early adhesion–associated FAK activation and focal adhesion assembly. (A) Schematic illustration of the experimental workflow for monitoring FAK activation using a Lyn–FAK FRET biosensor. This schematic was created using BioRender.com . (B) Representative time-lapse FRET ratio images showing ECFP/YPet FRET ratios during early adhesion (Scale bar = 20 μm). (C) Quantification of the time-dependent ECFP/YPet FRET ratio during early adhesion. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. ∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.01, ∗∗∗ p < 0.001 compared with the Ctrl group. (D) Representative immunofluorescence staining for F-actin (red) and pFAK (green) (Scale bar = 100 μm). (E-J) Quantitative image analysis of cell morphology and focal adhesion (FA) parameters (Scale bar = 50 μm). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. ∗ p < 0.05, ∗∗ p < 0.01, ∗∗∗ p < 0.001.

Article Snippet: The Lyn–FAK FRET biosensor plasmid (Plasmid #78299, Addgene, Watertown, MA, USA) was inserted into the pAd/CMV/V5-DESTTM GatewayTM vector (V49320, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions to generate an adenoviral expression construct.

Techniques: Activation Assay, Immunofluorescence, Staining