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Measuring the Mechanical Properties of Living Cells Using Atomic Force Microscopy
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Reliable, standardized measurements for cell mechanical properties.

Sandra Pérez-Domínguez1, Shruti G Kulkarni1, Joanna Pabijan2

  • 1Institute of Biophysics, University of Bremen, 28359, Bremen, Germany. radmacher@uni-bremen.de.

Nanoscale
|October 4, 2023
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

A new standardized operational protocol (SOP) enables reproducible measurement of cancer cell biomechanical properties using atomic force microscopy (AFM). This advancement facilitates the use of cell softness as a potential diagnostic marker in clinics.

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Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Cell Biology
  • Medical Diagnostics

Background:

  • Cancer cells exhibit altered mechanical properties, such as increased softness, compared to healthy cells.
  • These biomechanical differences, particularly cell deformability, show potential as sensitive markers for pathological changes.
  • Clinical application of biomechanical measurements is hindered by a lack of standardized procedures for instruments, data collection, and analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and validate a standardized operational protocol (SOP) for measuring the biomechanical properties of living cancer cells.
  • To ensure consistent and reproducible results across different nanoindentation instruments and laboratories.
  • To facilitate the clinical exploitation of cancer cell mechanics for diagnostic purposes.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a step-by-step SOP encompassing cell culturing, atomic force microscopy (AFM) calibration, measurement techniques, and data analysis.
  • Standardization of procedures across six European laboratories involved in the Phys2BioMed network.
  • Validation of the SOP through inter-laboratory comparison of Young's modulus measurements on cancer cells.

Main Results:

  • The standardized operational protocol (SOP) led to concordant biomechanical measurements (Young's modulus) among participating laboratories.
  • The SOP demonstrated its effectiveness in obtaining reproducible mechanical characterization of cancer cells.
  • The protocol ensures comparability of results regardless of the specific AFM instrument or laboratory.

Conclusions:

  • The developed SOP is crucial for achieving reproducible mechanical characterization of cancer cells.
  • Standardized protocols are essential for the reliable application of biomechanics in clinical settings.
  • This work paves the way for utilizing cancer cell biomechanics as a diagnostic tool in clinics.