Galleries | Biology | Cells

AFM data overlay on optical image of a Fibroblast cell and corresponding Elastic Force Map

A 40µm subset of a cell adjacent to the nucleus was optically selected using 40X phase contrast microscopy (left image). The AFM data taken on the cell is overlaid onto the inverted optical microscope image, while the AFM data from the Petri dish was subtracted using an automated threshold mask. The full AFM image (top right) shows several fine details, including a long, filamentous structure lying across the top of the cell. The same area of the sample is used for force mapping, where an array of force curves are collected and can be analyzed using the software’s built in Hertz-Sneddon modeling software. The cell shows a variety of elastic moduli, with soft areas on the lamellapodium that shows sparse cortical actin cytoskeleton, and a soft area concomitant with the filamentous structure shown in the topography image.

Combined 3D rendering of the modulus data overlaid onto height data allows both data sets to be directly compared. The topography information is determined by the AFM's Z-sensor, while the color at each pixel is determined by the measured elastic modulus.

Partial bibliography of our users’ cell mechanics work:

Raman, A, S Trigueros, A Cartagena, A P Z Stevenson, M Susilo, E Nauman, and S Antoranz Contera. "Mapping Nanomechanical Properties of Live Cells Using Multi-Harmonic Atomic Force Microscopy." Nature nanotechnology
(2011)doi:10.1038/nnano.2011.186

Maciaszek, J L, B Andemariam, and G Lykotrafitis. "Microelasticity of Red Blood Cells in Sickle Cell Disease." The Journal of Strain Analysis for Engineering Design 46, no. 5 (2011): doi:10.1177/0309324711398809.

Darling, E M. "Force Scanning: A Rapid, High-Resolution Approach for Spatial Mechanical Property Mapping." Nanotechnology 22, no. 17 (2011): doi:10.1088/0957-4484/22/17/175707

Maciaszek, Jamie L, and George Lykotrafitis. "Sickle Cell Trait Human Erythrocytes Are Significantly Stiffer Than Normal." Journal of biomechanics 44, no. 4 (2011): doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2010.11.008

Lulevich, Valentin, Christopher C Zimmer, Hyun-Seok Hong, Lee-Way Jin, and Gang-Yu Liu. "Single-Cell Mechanics Provides a Sensitive and Quantitative Means for Probing Amyloid-{Beta} Peptide and Neuronal Cell Interactions."
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107, no. 31 (2010): doi:10.1073/pnas.1008341107

Khripin, C Y, C J Brinker, and B Kaehr. "Mechanically Tunable Multiphoton Fabricated Protein Hydrogels Investigated Using Atomic Force Microscopy." Soft matter 6, no. 12 (2010): doi:10.1039/c001193b

Flores-Merino, Miriam V, Somyot Chirasatitsin, Caterina Lopresti, Gwendolen C Reilly, Giuseppe Battaglia, and Adam J Engler. "Nanoscopic Mechanical Anisotropy in Hydrogel Surfaces." Soft matter 6, no. 18 (2010):
doi:10.1039/C0SM00339E

Maguire, P, J I Kilpatrick, G Kelly, P J Prendergast, V A Campbell, B C O'Connell, and S P Jarvis. "Direct Mechanical Measurement of Geodesic Structures in Rat Mesenchymal Stem Cells." HFSP journal 1, no. 3 (2007):
doi:10.2976/1.2781618

Darling, Eric M, Stefan Zauscher, Joel A Block, and Farshid Guilak. "A Thin-Layer Model for Viscoelastic, Stress-Relaxation Testing of Cells Using Atomic Force Microscopy: Do Cell Properties Reflect Metastatic Potential?"
Biophysical journal 92, no. 5 (2007): doi:10.1529/biophysj.106.083097.

Lulevich, Valentin, Tiffany Zink, Huan-Yuan Chen, Fu-Tong Liu, and Gang-Yu Liu. "Cell Mechanics Using Atomic Force Microscopy-Based Single-Cell Compression." Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids 22, no. 19
(2006): doi:10.1021/la060561p

Engler, Adam, Lucie Bacakova, Cynthia Newman, Alina Hategan, Maureen Griffin, and Dennis Discher. "Substrate Compliance Versus Ligand Density in Cell on Gel Responses." Biophysical journal 86, no. 1 Pt 1 (2004):
doi:10.1016/S0006-3495(04)74140-5