Microrheology of keratin networks in cancer cells

Microrheology is a valuable tool to determine viscoelastic properties of polymer networks. For this purpose measurements with embedded tracer beads inside the extracted network of pancreatic cancer cells were performed. Observing the beads motion with a CCD-high-speed-camera leads to the dynamic shear modulus. The complex shear modulus is divided into real and imaginary parts which give insight into the mechanical properties of the cell. The dependency on the distance of the embedded beads to the rim of the nucleus shows a tendency for a decreasing storage modulus. We draw conclusions on the network topology of the keratin network types based on the mechanical behavior.