A comparison of methods to assess cell mechanical properties

Wu PH, Aroush DRB, Asnacios A, Chen WC, Dokukin ME, Doss BL, Durand-Smet P, Ekpenyong A, Guck J, Guz NV, Janmey PA, Lee JSH, Moore NM, Ott A, Poh YC, Ros R, Sander M, Sokolov I, Staunton JR, Wang N, Whyte G, Wirtz D (2018)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2018

Journal

Nature Methods Nature Publishing Group

Book Volume: 15

Pages Range: 491-498

Journal Issue: 7

DOI: 10.1038/s41592-018-0015-1

Abstract

The mechanical properties of cells influence their cellular and subcellular functions, including cell adhesion, migration, polarization, and differentiation, as well as organelle organization and trafficking inside the cytoplasm. Yet reported values of cell stiffness and viscosity vary substantially, which suggests differences in how the results of different methods are obtained or analyzed by different groups. To address this issue and illustrate the complementarity of certain approaches, here we present, analyze, and critically compare measurements obtained by means of some of the most widely used methods for cell mechanics: atomic force microscopy, magnetic twisting cytometry, particle-tracking microrheology, parallel-plate rheom-etry, cell monolayer rheology, and optical stretching. These measurements highlight how elastic and viscous moduli of MCF-7 breast cancer cells can vary 1,000-fold and 100-fold, respectively. We discuss the sources of these variations, including the level of applied mechanical stress, the rate of deformation, the geometry of the probe, the location probed in the cell, and the extracellular microenvironment.

Authors with CRIS profile

Jochen Guck

Involved external institutions

Johns Hopkins University (JHU) US United States (USA) (US) University of Pennsylvania US United States (USA) (US) National Center for Scientific Research / Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) FR France (FR) Tufts University US United States (USA) (US) Arizona State University (ASU) US United States (USA) (US) Technische Universität Dresden DE Germany (DE) Clarkson University US United States (USA) (US) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign US United States (USA) (US) Universität des Saarlandes (UdS) DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Wu, P.-H., Aroush, D.R.-B., Asnacios, A., Chen, W.-C., Dokukin, M.E., Doss, B.L.,... Wirtz, D. (2018). A comparison of methods to assess cell mechanical properties. Nature Methods, 15(7), 491-498. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-018-0015-1

MLA:

Wu, Pei-Hsun, et al. "A comparison of methods to assess cell mechanical properties." Nature Methods 15.7 (2018): 491-498.

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