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Updated: May 6, 2026
Quantifying the Mechanical Properties of the Endothelial Glycocalyx with Atomic Force Microscopy
Published on: February 21, 2013
A method to measure cellular adhesion utilizing a polymer micro-cantilever
Angelo Gaitas1, Ricky Malhotra, Kenneth Pienta
1PicoCal, Inc., 333 Parkland Plaza, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48103, USA ; Electronic Instrumentation Laboratory, TU Delft, Mekelweg 4, 2628CD Delft, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
In the present study we engineered a micro-machined polyimide cantilever with an embedded sensing element to investigate cellular adhesion, in terms of its relative ability to stick to a cross-linker, 3,3'-dithiobis[sulfosuccinimidylpropionate], coated on the cantilever surface. To achieve this objective, we investigated adhesive properties of three human prostate cancer cell lines, namely, a bone metastasis derived human prostate cancer cell line (PC3), a brain metastasis derived human prostate cancer cell line (DU145), and a subclone of PC3 (PC3-EMT14). We found that PC3-EMT14, which displays a mesenchymal phenotype, has the least adhesion compared to PC3 and DU145, which exhibit an epithelial phenotype.
