The mechanical properties of cells influence their cellular and subcellular functions, including cell adhesion, migration, polarization, and differentiation, as well as organelle organization and trafficking inside the cytoplasm. Yet reported values of cell stiffness and viscosity vary substantially, which suggests differences in how the results of different methods are obtained or analyzed by different groups. To address this issue and illustrate the complementarity of certain approaches, here we present, analyze, and critically compare measurements obtained by means of some of the most widely used methods for cell mechanics: atomic force microscopy, magnetic twisting cytometry, particle-tracking microrheology, parallel-plate rheometry, cell monolayer rheology, and optical stretching. These measurements highlight how elastic and viscous moduli of MCF-7 breast cancer cells can vary 1,000-fold and 100-fold, respectively. We discuss the sources of these variations, including the level of applied mechanical stress, the rate of deformation, the geometry of the probe, the location probed in the cell, and the extracellular microenvironment.
assay. We show that the isolated droplets have excellent optical properties and can be used in high-precision and high temporal resolution optical trapping experiments on par with plastic beads used in in vitro assays. Using a Photonic Force Microscope (PFM), we determine their size precisely in situ. Moreover, using the high bandwidth (MHz) provided by the PFM, we are able to detect single lipid-droplet-bound motors attaching to the microtubule before they start moving. Analysis of the Brownian motion of the tethered droplet provides the mechanical properties of the tether. Given the disparate structures of the different motors, this in situ measurement of tether properties will allow us to identify the motor type and subsequently to study multiple motor dynamics with high temporal resolution.
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