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Combining Microfluidics and Microrheology to Determine Rheological Properties of Soft Matter during Repeated Phase Transitions

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Multiple-particle tracking and two-point microrheology in cells.

John C Crocker¹, Brenton D Hoffman

¹Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Institute for Medicine and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.

Methods in Cell Biology

|July 7, 2007

Summary

Two-point microrheology (TPM) quantifies intracellular stress and cell mechanics. This method uses particle tracking to reveal how mechanical forces influence cell differentiation and tissue development.

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Area of Science:

Cell Biology
Biophysics
Biomechanical Engineering

Background:

Mechanical stress and stiffness are crucial for cell differentiation and tissue morphogenesis.
Understanding stress propagation and mechanotransduction within cells is limited by experimental challenges.
Existing cell mechanics experiments are difficult to interpret quantitatively.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce and detail a novel technique, two-point microrheology (TPM), for measuring cell mechanics.
To provide a quantitative method for analyzing intracellular stress and frequency-dependent shear moduli.
To enable a deeper understanding of how mechanical forces influence cellular processes.

Main Methods:

Utilizing noninvasive, multiple-particle tracking of intracellular particle Brownian motion.
Employing a phase microscope and digital video camera, standard laboratory equipment.
Developing algorithms and software for automated analysis of thousands of micrographs.

Main Results:

TPM provides highly interpretable, quantitative measurements of cells' frequency-dependent shear moduli.
TPM allows for the measurement of spectra of fluctuating intracellular stresses.
The study details algorithms, software tools, error sources, and microscopy methods for TPM.

Conclusions:

TPM offers a powerful, accessible method for quantitative cell mechanics research.
This technique advances the study of mechanotransduction and its role in cell biology.
Results from cultured epithelial cells demonstrate TPM's applicability.