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Title: Nanomechanical and topographical imaging of living cells by atomic force microscopy with colloidal probes

Abstract

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has a great potential as a tool to characterize mechanical and morphological properties of living cells; these properties have been shown to correlate with cells’ fate and patho-physiological state in view of the development of novel early-diagnostic strategies. Although several reports have described experimental and technical approaches for the characterization of cellular elasticity by means of AFM, a robust and commonly accepted methodology is still lacking. Here, we show that micrometric spherical probes (also known as colloidal probes) are well suited for performing a combined topographic and mechanical analysis of living cells, with spatial resolution suitable for a complete and accurate mapping of cell morphological and elastic properties, and superior reliability and accuracy in the mechanical measurements with respect to conventional and widely used sharp AFM tips. We address a number of issues concerning the nanomechanical analysis, including the applicability of contact mechanical models and the impact of a constrained contact geometry on the measured Young’s modulus (the finite-thickness effect). We have tested our protocol by imaging living PC12 and MDA-MB-231 cells, in order to demonstrate the importance of the correction of the finite-thickness effect and the change in Young’s modulus induced by the action ofmore » a cytoskeleton-targeting drug.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. CIMaINa and Department of Physics, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano (Italy)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22392414
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Review of Scientific Instruments
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 86; Journal Issue: 3; Other Information: (c) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0034-6748
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; ACCURACY; ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY; CORRECTIONS; DRUGS; ELASTICITY; GEOMETRY; MAPPING; MICROTUBULES; PROBES; SPATIAL RESOLUTION; SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION; THICKNESS

Citation Formats

Puricelli, Luca, Galluzzi, Massimiliano, Schulte, Carsten, Podestà, Alessandro, and Milani, Paolo. Nanomechanical and topographical imaging of living cells by atomic force microscopy with colloidal probes. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4915896.
Puricelli, Luca, Galluzzi, Massimiliano, Schulte, Carsten, Podestà, Alessandro, & Milani, Paolo. Nanomechanical and topographical imaging of living cells by atomic force microscopy with colloidal probes. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4915896
Puricelli, Luca, Galluzzi, Massimiliano, Schulte, Carsten, Podestà, Alessandro, and Milani, Paolo. 2015. "Nanomechanical and topographical imaging of living cells by atomic force microscopy with colloidal probes". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4915896.
@article{osti_22392414,
title = {Nanomechanical and topographical imaging of living cells by atomic force microscopy with colloidal probes},
author = {Puricelli, Luca and Galluzzi, Massimiliano and Schulte, Carsten and Podestà, Alessandro and Milani, Paolo},
abstractNote = {Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has a great potential as a tool to characterize mechanical and morphological properties of living cells; these properties have been shown to correlate with cells’ fate and patho-physiological state in view of the development of novel early-diagnostic strategies. Although several reports have described experimental and technical approaches for the characterization of cellular elasticity by means of AFM, a robust and commonly accepted methodology is still lacking. Here, we show that micrometric spherical probes (also known as colloidal probes) are well suited for performing a combined topographic and mechanical analysis of living cells, with spatial resolution suitable for a complete and accurate mapping of cell morphological and elastic properties, and superior reliability and accuracy in the mechanical measurements with respect to conventional and widely used sharp AFM tips. We address a number of issues concerning the nanomechanical analysis, including the applicability of contact mechanical models and the impact of a constrained contact geometry on the measured Young’s modulus (the finite-thickness effect). We have tested our protocol by imaging living PC12 and MDA-MB-231 cells, in order to demonstrate the importance of the correction of the finite-thickness effect and the change in Young’s modulus induced by the action of a cytoskeleton-targeting drug.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4915896},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22392414}, journal = {Review of Scientific Instruments},
issn = {0034-6748},
number = 3,
volume = 86,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Sun Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}