6533b85efe1ef96bd12c0998
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Measuring (biological) materials mechanics with atomic force microscopy. 2. Influence of the loading rate and applied force (colloidal particles)
José L. Toca-herreraRafael BenítezBarbara ZbiralAndreas WeberJagoba Iturrisubject
HistologyMaterials scienceWork (physics)Force spectroscopyEndothelial CellsYoung's modulus030206 dentistry02 engineering and technologyMechanicsMicroscopy Atomic Force021001 nanoscience & nanotechnologyPower lawViscoelasticityStiffening03 medical and health sciencesMedical Laboratory Technologysymbols.namesake0302 clinical medicineColloidal particlesymbolsLoading rateAnatomy0210 nano-technologyInstrumentationMechanical Phenomenadescription
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is the most often used tool to study the mechanical properties of eukaryotic cells. Due to their complex assembly, cells show viscoelastic properties. When performing experiments, one has to consider the influence of both loading rate and maximum load on the measured mechanical properties. Here, we employed colloidal particles of various sizes (from 2 to 20 μm diameter) to perform force spectroscopy measurements on endothelial cells at loading rates varying from 0.1 to 50 μm/s, and maximum loads ranging from 1 to 25 nN. We were able to determine the non-linear dependence of cell viscoelastic properties on the loading rate which followed a weak power law. In addition, we show that previous loading at high forces leads to a stiffening of cells. Based on these results we discuss a road map for determining cell mechanical properties using AFM. Finally, this work provides an experimental framework for cell mechanical measurements using force-cycle experiments.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-11-12 | Microscopy Research and Technique |