Cell Cortex
Cell Cortex - Related Videos
01:56
Time-Lapse Imaging of Transfected Primary Mouse Cerebral Cortex Cells
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2025
Source: Landeira, B. S.,et al., Live Imaging of Primary Cerebral Cortex Cells Using a 2D Culture System. J. Vis. Exp. (2017)The video demonstrates the use of time-lapse imaging to track fluorescently labeled cortical progenitors, monitor their division and differentiation, and study lineage development in primary cerebral cortex...
10:12
Live Imaging of Primary Cerebral Cortex Cells Using a 2D Culture System
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Cited by 2 •
2017
Live imaging is a powerful tool to study cellular behaviors in real time. Here, we describe a protocol for time-lapse video-microscopy of primary cerebral cortex cells that allows a detailed examination of the phases enacted during the lineage progression from primary neural stem cells to differentiated neurons and glia.
04:39
Isolating and Culturing Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells from Mouse Pup Brain Cortex
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2025
This video demonstrates a technique for isolating and culturing oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) from the mouse pup brain cortex.
08:35
Detecting Cortex Fragments During Bacterial Spore Germination
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Cited by 8 •
2016
Herein, we describe a colorimetric assay to detect the presence of reducing sugars during bacterial spore germination.
03:48
Isolation of Microglia from the Cortex of an Adult Mouse Brain
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2025
The video demonstrates a technique for isolating microglia from the cortex of an adult mouse brain. First, the cortex undergoes segmentation and homogenization to remove neurons and other glial cells, preserving microglia. Following that, the cell suspension is exposed to anti-myelin magnetic microbeads and a magnetic field, effectively separating microglia and myeloid cells from myelin debris and cells containing myelin.
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Actin polymerization adds filaments to the cortical network, whereas depolymerization removes them, allowing the layer to reorganize over time. Myosin motors generate contractile forces within this changing network. The balance between filament turnover and motor-driven contraction enables cells to adjust cortical mechanics rather than maintaining a fixed structure, supporting changes in shape and surface movement.
Connections between the actin network and the plasma membrane allow forces generated within the cortex to influence the cell surface. These linkages help coordinate membrane tension with the underlying cytoskeleton, while also connecting cortical behavior to adhesion and polarity. As a result, membrane-associated cortical forces can contribute to organized changes in cell shape and movement.
The cortex acts as a mechanical and organizational interface beneath the membrane. Its activity links membrane tension with adhesion sites and with polarity, the uneven organization of cellular components across the cell. Coordinating these features helps a cell produce directed rather than random surface behavior, which is particularly relevant when it migrates or organizes within a tissue.
Actin remodeling changes the arrangement and extent of the cortical network through filament assembly and disassembly. Myosin activity instead contributes active contraction by generating force within that network. These mechanisms can operate together but are not interchangeable: remodeling changes cortical organization, while contraction changes force production. Their coordination helps determine cellular stiffness, shape, and mechanical responses.
Analysis of cortical mechanics can reveal how cells sense physical forces and translate them into changes in shape or behavior. It also connects molecular activities such as actin turnover and myosin-generated contraction with larger cellular outcomes. This perspective helps explain how variations in cortical properties influence migration, division, adhesion, polarity, and organization within tissues.
During migration, cortical forces and membrane-associated coordination support cell surface movements and directed behavior. During division, the same mechanical system helps cells change shape as they separate. At the tissue level, cortical regulation contributes to how cells interact and organize with one another. These roles make cortical mechanics relevant to development, immunity, wound healing, and disease.