High-resolution traction force microscopy on small focal adhesions - improved accuracy through optimal marker distribution and optical flow tracking.

ABSTRACT: The accurate determination of cellular forces using Traction Force Microscopy at increasingly small focal attachments to the extracellular environment presents an important yet substantial technical challenge. In these measurements, uncertainty regarding accuracy is prominent since experimental calibration frameworks at this size scale are fraught with errors - denying a gold standard against which accuracy of TFM methods can be judged. Therefore, we have developed a simulation platform for generating synthetic traction images that can be used as a benchmark to quantify the influence of critical experimental parameters and the associated errors. Using this approach, we show that TFM accuracy can be improved >35% compared to the standard approach by placing fluorescent beads as densely and

SUBMITTER: Holenstein CN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5292691 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature