Fast, multi-frequency, and quantitative nanomechanical mapping of live cells using the atomic force microscope.

ABSTRACT: A longstanding goal in cellular mechanobiology has been to link dynamic biomolecular processes underpinning disease or morphogenesis to spatio-temporal changes in nanoscale mechanical properties such as viscoelasticity, surface tension, and adhesion. This requires the development of quantitative mechanical microscopy methods with high spatio-temporal resolution within a single cell. The Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) can map the heterogeneous mechanical properties of cells with high spatial resolution, however, the image acquisition time is 1-2 orders of magnitude longer than that required to study dynamic cellular processes. We present a technique that allows commercial AFM systems to map quantitatively the dynamically changing viscoelastic properties of live eukaryotic cells at widely sep

SUBMITTER: Cartagena-Rivera AX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4484408 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature