Application of atomic force microscopy to living samples from cells to fresh tissues

Chen, PeiPei; Dong, Heng; Chen, Long; Sun, Qingqing; Han, Dong

doi:10.1007/s11434-009-0374-1

Cited by 18 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Cells from other types of cancer including breast cancer, lung cancer and pancreas cancer have been examined for their nanomechanics by different techniques such as atomic force microscopy [20,21]. The results reported by those studies are, in general, consistent with our findings despite the differences in cancer types and measurement methods employed.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

In vitro assay of cytoskeleton nanomechanics as a tool for screening potential anticancer effects of natural plant extract, tubeimoside I on human hepatoma (HepG2) cells

Zhao

Wang²,

Jiang

et al. 2013

Chin. Sci. Bull.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

In vitro assay of cytoskeleton nanomechanics as a tool for screening potential anticancer effects of natural plant extract, tubeimoside I on human hepatoma (HepG2) cells

Zhao

Wang²,

Jiang

et al. 2013

Chin. Sci. Bull.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…After 20 years of development, AFM cell im-aging achieved great progress. AFM imaging mode for cell imaging has developed from contact mode to several other modes (tapping mode [22], Magnetic AC mode [23], peak force tapping mode [24]); High-speed AFM techniques are improving [2,5]; Living mammalian suspended cells can be imaged by AFM [13,14]. The research hot of AFM cell imaging in recent years focused on combining fluorescence microscopy with AFM to investigate the cellular ultra-structures and using time-lapse AFM to serially observe the dynamics of the surface ultra-structures during cellular physiological activities.…”

Section: Afm Living Cell Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progress of AFM single-cell and single-molecule morphology imaging

Liu

et al. 2013

Chin. Sci. Bull.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) can probe single living cells and single native membrane proteins in natural fluid environments with label-free high spatial resolution. It has thus become an important tool for cellular and molecular biology that significantly complements traditional biochemical and biophysical techniques such as optical and electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography. Imaging surface topography is the primary application of AFM in the life sciences. Since the early 1990s, researchers have used AFM to investigate morphological features of living cells and native membrane proteins with impressive results. Steady improvements in AFM techniques for imaging soft biological samples have greatly expanded its applications. Based on the authors' own research in AFM imaging of living cell morphologies, a review of sample preparation procedures for single-cell and single-molecule imaging experiments is presented, along with a summary of recent progress in AFM imaging of living cells and native membrane proteins. Finally, the challenges of AFM high-resolution imaging at the single-cell and single-molecule levels are discussed.

show abstract

“…The depth of the square cutting area on the cell surface increased with increased loading voltage. Because the cell organelles and cytoskeleton are distributed stochastically in the cells [12][13][14], the surface of the cutting area was uneven, and some organelles and cytoskeleton were exposed; some of the exposed organelles were complete, while others were cut. As shown in Figure 2, four pits of different sizes were seen, probably where organelles had been lost.…”

Section: Measured Cutting Depths Under Different Loading Forcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calculation of the intracellular elastic modulus based on an atomic force microscope micro-cutting system

Wang

et al. 2012

Chin. Sci. Bull.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Better understanding of variations in the mechanical properties of cancer cells could help to provide novel solutions for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancers. We therefore developed a calculation model of the intracellular elastic modulus based on the contact pressure between the silicon tip of an atomic force microscope and the target cells, and cutting depth. Ovarian cells (UACC-1598) and colon cancer cells (NCI-H716) were cut into sequential layers using an atomic force microscope silicon tip. The cutting area on the cells was 8 m × 8 m, and the loading force acting on the cells was increased from 17.523 to 32.126 N. The elastic modulus distribution was measured after each cutting process. There were significant differences in contact pressure and cutting depth between different cells under the same loading force, which could be attributed to differences in their intrinsic structures and mechanical properties. The differences between the average elastic modulus and surface elastic modulus for UACC-1598 and NCI-H716 cells were 0.288±0.08 kPa and 0.376±0.16 kPa, respectively. These results demonstrate that this micro-cutting method can be used to measure intracellular mechanical properties, which could in turn provide a more accurate experimental basis for the development of novel methods for the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. The cytoskeleton has a major effect on the responsiveness of cells to external stimuli [1][2][3][4][5] and is composed of a variety of protein filaments of different sizes and degrees of stiffness [6][7][8][9][10]. Cells can be cut into sequential layers using an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip, which allows the elastic modulus of the cytoskeleton and the organelles to be determined. The sequential distribution of the intracellular elastic modulus can thus also be plotted, allowing an overall understanding of the mechanical properties of the cells to be determined. This in turn can provide a more detailed experimental basis for studying cytopathology and disease processes. Investigations into intracellular mechanical properties are therefore crucial.In this study, cells were cut into sequential layers using an AFM-based nano-cutting system, and the contact properties between the AFM silicon tip and the cell were analyzed to measure the distribution of the intracellular elastic modulus. In addition, the cell morphology after each cutting process was also examined.

show abstract

Application of atomic force microscopy to living samples from cells to fresh tissues

Cited by 18 publications

References 27 publications

In vitro assay of cytoskeleton nanomechanics as a tool for screening potential anticancer effects of natural plant extract, tubeimoside I on human hepatoma (HepG2) cells

In vitro assay of cytoskeleton nanomechanics as a tool for screening potential anticancer effects of natural plant extract, tubeimoside I on human hepatoma (HepG2) cells

Progress of AFM single-cell and single-molecule morphology imaging

Calculation of the intracellular elastic modulus based on an atomic force microscope micro-cutting system

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About