Viscoelastic properties of suspended cells measured with shear flow deformation cytometry

Gerum R, Mirzahossein E, Eroles M, Elsterer J, Mainka A, Bauer A, Sonntag S, Winterl A, Bartl J, Fischer L, Abuhattum S, Goswami R, Girardo S, Guck J, Schrüfer S, Ströhlein N, Nosratlo M, Herrmann H, Schultheis D, Rico F, Müller SJ, Gekle S, Fabry B (2022)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2022

Journal

eLife eLife Sciences Publications

Book Volume: 11

Article Number: e78823

DOI: 10.7554/eLife.78823

Abstract

Numerous cell functions are accompanied by phenotypic changes in viscoelastic prop-erties, and measuring them can help elucidate higher level cellular functions in health and disease. We present a high-throughput, simple and low-cost microfluidic method for quantitatively measuring the elastic (storage) and viscous (loss) modulus of individual cells. Cells are suspended in a high-viscosity fluid and are pumped with high pressure through a 5.8 cm long and 200 µm wide microflu-idic channel. The fluid shear stress induces large, ear ellipsoidal cell deformations. In addition, the flow profile in the channel causes the cells to rotate in a tank-treading manner. From the cell deformation and tank treading frequency, we extract the frequency-dependent viscoelastic cell properties based on a theoretical framework developed by R. Roscoe [1] that describes the deformation of a viscoelastic sphere in a viscous fluid under steady laminar flow. We confirm the accuracy of the method using atomic force microscopy-calibrated polyacrylamide beads and cells. Our measurements demonstrate that suspended cells exhibit power-law, soft glassy rheological behavior that is cell-cycle-dependent and mediated by the physical interplay between the actin filament and intermediate filament networks.

Authors with CRIS profile

Richard Gerum Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Elham Mirzahossein Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Jennifer Elsterer Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Astrid Mainka Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Andreas Bauer Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Alexander Winterl Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Johannes Bartl Lehrstuhl für Experimentalphysik (Astroteilchenphysik) Lena Fischer Lehrstuhl für Biophysik Jochen Guck Lehrstuhl für Biologische Optomechanik Stefan Schrüfer Lehrstuhl für Werkstoffwissenschaften (Polymerwerkstoffe) (LSP) Nadi Ströhlein Lehrstuhl für Entwicklungsbiologie (Ebio) Dorothea Schultheis Lehrstuhl für Entwicklungsbiologie (Ebio) Ben Fabry Lehrstuhl für Biophysik

Involved external institutions

Universität Bayreuth DE Germany (DE) Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts (MPL) / Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light DE Germany (DE) Aix-Marseille University / Aix-Marseille Université FR France (FR)

How to cite

APA:

Gerum, R., Mirzahossein, E., Eroles, M., Elsterer, J., Mainka, A., Bauer, A.,... Fabry, B. (2022). Viscoelastic properties of suspended cells measured with shear flow deformation cytometry. eLife, 11. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.78823

MLA:

Gerum, Richard, et al. "Viscoelastic properties of suspended cells measured with shear flow deformation cytometry." eLife 11 (2022).

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