Mechanosensitive nuclear uptake of chemotherapy

The nucleus is at the nexus of mechanotransduction and the final barrier for most first line chemotherapeutics. Here, we study the intersection between nuclear-cytoskeletal coupling and chemotherapy nuclear internalization. We find that chronic and acute modulation of intracellular filaments changes nuclear influx of doxorubicin (DOX). Rapid changes in cell strain by disruption of cytoskeletal and nuclear filaments sensitize nuclei to DOX, whereas chronic reduction of cell strain desensitize nuclei to DOX. Extracted nuclei from invasive cancer cells lines from different tissues have distinct nuclear permeability to DOX. Last, we show that mechano-priming of cells by paclitaxel markedly improves DOX nuclear internalization, rationalizing the observed drug synergies. Our findings reveal that nuclear uptake is a critical, previously unquantified aspect of drug resistance. With nuclear permeability to chemotherapy being tunable via modulation of nuclear mechanotransduction, mechano-priming may be useful to help overcome drug resistance in the future.