Dynamical organization of vimentin intermediate filaments in living cells revealed by MoNaLISA nanoscopy.

Smoler M, Pennacchietti F, De Rossi MC, Bruno L, Testa I, Levi V

Biosci. Rep. 45 (2) - [2025-02-12; online 2025-02-12]

Intermediate filaments are intimately involved in the mechanical behavior of cells. Unfortunately, the resolution of optical microscopy limits our understanding of their organization. Here, we combined nanoscopy, single-filament tracking, and numerical simulations to inspect the dynamical organization of vimentin intermediate filaments in live cells. We show that a higher proportion of peripheral versus perinuclear vimentin pools are constrained in their lateral motion in the seconds time window, probably due to their cross-linking to other cytoskeletal networks. In a longer time scale, active forces become evident and affect similarly both pools of filaments. Our results provide a detailed description of the dynamical organization of the vimentin network in live cells and give some cues on its response to mechanical stimuli.

PubMed 39936518

DOI 10.1042/BSR20241133

Crossref 10.1042/BSR20241133

pmc: PMC12127793
pii: 235347