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DECMA-1 main data set for: Shape-independent fluidity in epithelial cell monolayers

Bera, Pradip K.1; Nguyen, Anh Q.2; McCord, Molly1; Bi, Dapeng2; Notbohm, Jacob1

Published Jul 27, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m37pvmdjf

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Abstract

This repository contains an integrated dataset of time-lapse fluorescence microscopy and laser ablation experiments designed to investigate how reduced E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion regulates the collective dynamics and mechanical properties of epithelial monolayers. Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells expressing nuclear-localized GFP (MDCK NLS) were cultured as approximately 1 mm diameter islands on 6 kPa polyacrylamide substrates. Cell proliferation was inhibited using mitomycin C to maintain a nearly constant cell density throughout the experiments, enabling the effects of adhesion perturbation to be isolated from density-dependent changes. The experiments were performed in parallel under identical biological conditions using five DECMA-1 treatment groups: a sham control (0 μg ml -1) and four concentrations of the E-cadherin blocking antibody DECMA-1 (2.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0 μg ml -1). Time-series imaging was carried out on substrates containing embedded fluorescent beads to quantify collective cell migration, cell morphology, and cell-substrate traction forces. In parallel, laser ablation experiments were performed on matched cultures without embedded beads to quantify cell-cell junction mechanics through post-ablation junction retraction dynamics. The time-series dataset consists of 24-hour fluorescence image sequences acquired every 15 minutes (97 time points per field of view), including nuclear, cell-body, bead, and reference-bead image stacks. The laser ablation dataset consists of high-speed image sequences acquired at 1-second intervals following approximately 50 junction ablations for each treatment condition. Together, these complementary datasets provide measurements of collective migration, traction forces, cell morphology, structural relaxation, and junctional tension across a controlled range of E-cadherin inhibition. The data were generated using an established MDCK cell line and contain no human participant data, personally identifiable information, or animal subjects. Users are requested to cite the associated publication when using these data.