Leukocyte-endothelium interaction: measurement by laser tweezers force spectroscopy

Leukocyte adhesion to vascular endothelium is an initial step of many inflammatory diseases. Although the atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements of leukocyte-endothelial interaction have been recently introduced. with cell adhesion force unbinding curves (CAFUC). We obtained pico-Newton force in the initial interaction between a single living THP-1 cell and HUVEC monolayer using a custom-built laser tweezers (LT) system. The measured quantities included the non-linear force-distance relationship, and the effect of yielding in cell detachment. It is possible to introduce a time scale into the LT cell-detachment experiments for further exploration and more detailed information on the viscoelastic properties of living cells.