Mechanical regulation of tension-transmission supramolecular linkages

Abstract In cells, various supramolecular linkages each comprising multiple physically linked proteins transmit the tension generated by internal actomyosin contraction or by external mechanical perturbations, and provide the physical basis for regulating tension-dependent signalling transduction of the cells. The mechanical properties of a tension-transmission supramolecular linkage depend on two critical tension-bearing elements, the interfaces between two neighbouring proteins and the protein domains within the linkage. In this review, we focus on technological principles that enable the probing of mechanical properties of proteins, the experimental progresses and theoretical understandings of the kinetics of tension dependent structural transition of protein domains and protein-protein interfaces, and their implications on cell mechanotransduction.