Characterizing mechanical properties of biological cells by microinjection

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Cell Mechanics
• Biomaterials Science

Background:

• Microinjection is a key technique for introducing substances into cells.
• The use of cell injection for characterizing cell mechanical properties is not well-established.
• Understanding cell mechanics is crucial for developmental biology and disease research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of microinjection for characterizing cell mechanical properties.
• To develop and validate a mechanical model for biomembranes using various constitutive materials.
• To identify the most suitable constitutive models for specific embryonic cell types.

Main Methods:

• Developed an extended mechanical model incorporating various constitutive materials.
• Performed finite element analysis (FEA) to simulate cell deformation.
• Conducted experimental tests to validate the model and FEA results.

Main Results:

• The developed mechanical model demonstrated strong agreement with FEA and experimental data.
• Yeoh and Cheng constitutive materials were identified as optimal for zebrafish and mouse embryos, respectively.
• Characterized the mechanical properties of zebrafish embryos across different developmental stages and mouse embryos/oocytes.

Conclusions:

• Microinjection, coupled with advanced modeling, is a valid method for characterizing cell mechanical properties.
• The choice of constitutive material is critical for accurately representing the mechanical behavior of specific biomembranes.
• This approach provides valuable insights into the mechanical properties of developing embryos.