scholarly journals Single-Cell Elastography: Probing for Disease with the Atomic Force Microscope

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 139-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin D. Costa
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscope ◽  
Cell Mechanics ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Biomechanical Properties ◽  
Living Cells ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Current Standard ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Resolution Imaging ◽  
And Function

The atomic force microscope (AFM) is emerging as a powerful tool in cell biology. Originally developed for high-resolution imaging purposes, the AFM also has unique capabilities as a nano-indenter to probe the dynamic viscoelastic material properties of living cells in culture. In particular, AFM elastography combines imaging and indentation modalities to map the spatial distribution of cell mechanical properties, which in turn reflect the structure and function of the underlying cytoskeleton. Such measurements have contributed to our understanding of cell mechanics and cell biology and appear to be sensitive to the presence of disease in individual cells. This chapter provides a background on the principles and practice of AFM elastography and reviews the literature comparing cell mechanics in normal and diseased states, making a case for the use of such measurements as disease markers. Emphasis is placed on the need for more comprehensive and detailed quantification of cell biomechanical properties beyond the current standard methods of analysis. A number of technical and practical hurdles have yet to be overcome before the method can be of clinical use. However, the future holds great promise for AFM elastography of living cells to provide novel biomechanical markers that will enhance the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease.

scholarly journals Nonlinear Cellular Mechanical Behavior Adaptation to Substrate Mechanics Identified by Atomic Force Microscope

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 3461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyvan Mollaeian ◽  
Yi Liu ◽  
Siyu Bi ◽  
Yifei Wang ◽  
Juan Ren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Actin Cytoskeleton ◽  
Cell Mechanics ◽  
Living Cells ◽  
Substrate Stiffness ◽  
Adherent Cell ◽  
Biomechanical Behavior ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Cell Substrate ◽  
And Function

Cell–substrate interaction plays an important role in intracellular behavior and function. Adherent cell mechanics is directly regulated by the substrate mechanics. However, previous studies on the effect of substrate mechanics only focused on the stiffness relation between the substrate and the cells, and how the substrate stiffness affects the time-scale and length-scale of the cell mechanics has not yet been studied. The absence of this information directly limits the in-depth understanding of the cellular mechanotransduction process. In this study, the effect of substrate mechanics on the nonlinear biomechanical behavior of living cells was investigated using indentation-based atomic force microscopy. The mechanical properties and their nonlinearities of the cells cultured on four substrates with distinct mechanical properties were thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, the actin filament (F-actin) cytoskeleton of the cells was fluorescently stained to investigate the adaptation of F-actin cytoskeleton structure to the substrate mechanics. It was found that living cells sense and adapt to substrate mechanics: the cellular Young’s modulus, shear modulus, apparent viscosity, and their nonlinearities (mechanical property vs. measurement depth relation) were adapted to the substrates’ nonlinear mechanics. Moreover, the positive correlation between the cellular poroelasticity and the indentation remained the same regardless of the substrate stiffness nonlinearity, but was indeed more pronounced for the cells seeded on the softer substrates. Comparison of the F-actin cytoskeleton morphology confirmed that the substrate affects the cell mechanics by regulating the intracellular structure.

scholarly journals Cell penetration efficiency analysis of different atomic force microscopy nanoneedles into living cells

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Penedo ◽  
Tetsuya Shirokawa ◽  
Mohammad Shahidul Alam ◽  
Keisuke Miyazawa ◽  
Takehiko Ichikawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscopy ◽  
Cell Membrane ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Cell Damage ◽  
Efficiency Analysis ◽  
Living Cells ◽  
Biomolecular Recognition ◽  
Cell Penetration ◽  
Force Microscopy ◽  
Atomic Force

AbstractOver the last decade, nanoneedle-based systems have demonstrated to be extremely useful in cell biology. They can be used as nanotools for drug delivery, biosensing or biomolecular recognition inside cells; or they can be employed to select and sort in parallel a large number of living cells. When using these nanoprobes, the most important requirement is to minimize the cell damage, reducing the forces and indentation lengths needed to penetrate the cell membrane. This is normally achieved by reducing the diameter of the nanoneedles. However, several studies have shown that nanoneedles with a flat tip display lower penetration forces and indentation lengths. In this work, we have tested different nanoneedle shapes and diameters to reduce the force and the indentation length needed to penetrate the cell membrane, demonstrating that ultra-thin and sharp nanoprobes can further reduce them, consequently minimizing the cell damage.

scholarly journals Adhesion forces measured between a calcium blocker drug and its receptor in living cells using atomic force microscope

FEBS Letters ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 552 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 155-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo de Souza Pereira ◽  
Maria Ivonete Nogueira da Silva ◽  
Mônica Alonso Cotta
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscope ◽  
Living Cells ◽  
Adhesion Forces ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Calcium Blocker

The atomic resolution imaging of metallic Ag(111) surface by noncontact atomic force microscope

1999 ◽  
Vol 140 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 243-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Orisaka ◽  
T Minobe ◽  
T Uchihashi ◽  
Y Sugawara ◽  
S Morita
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Force Microscope ◽  
Atomic Resolution ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Resolution Imaging
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