FluidFM: Combining Atomic Force Microscopy and Nanofluidics in a Universal Liquid Delivery System for Single Cell Applications and Beyond

Meister, André; Gabi, Michael; Behr, Pascal; Studer, Philipp; Vörös, János; Niedermann, Philippe; Bitterli, Joanna; Polesel-Maris, Jérôme; Liley, Martha; Heinzelmann, H.; Zambelli, Tomaso

doi:10.1021/nl901384x

Cited by 386 publications

(379 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The fluidic channel allows soluble molecules to be dispensed through the hollow AFM tip. One remarkable application of nanoscale dispensing has been the stimulation of single living cells under physiological conditions 105 .…”

Section: Additional Spl Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced scanning probe lithography

2014

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The nanoscale control afforded by scanning probe microscopes has prompted the development of a wide variety of scanning probe-based patterning methods. Some of these methods have demonstrated a high degree of robustness and patterning capabilities that are unmatched by other lithographic techniques. However, the limited throughput of scanning probe lithography has prevented their exploitation in technological applications. Here, we review the fundamentals of scanning probe lithography and its use in materials science and nanotechnology. We focus on the methods and processes that offer genuinely lithography capabilities such as those based on thermal effects, chemical reactions and voltage-induced processes. Published in:Nature Nanotechnology 9, 577-587 (2014) Progress in nanotechnology depends on the capability to fabricate, position, and interconnect nanometre-scale structures. A variety of materials and systems such as nanoparticles, nanowires, two-dimensional materials like graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides, plasmonics materials, conjugated polymers and organic semiconductors are finding applications in nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, organic electronics and biomedical applications. The success of many of the above applications relies on the existence of suitable nanolithography approaches. However, patterning materials with nanoscale features aimed at improving integration and device performance poses several challenges. The limitations of conventional lithography techniques related to resolution, operational costs and lack of flexibility to pattern organic and novel materials have motivated the development of unconventional fabrication methods [1][2][3] .Since the first patterning experiments performed with a scanning probe microscope in the late 80s, scanning probe lithography (SPL) has emerged as an alternative lithography for academic research that combines nanoscale feature-size, relatively low technological requirements and the ability to handle soft matter from small organic molecules to proteins and polymers. Scanning probe lithography experiments have provided striking examples of its capabilities such as the ability to pattern 3D structures with nanoscale features 4 , the fabrication of the smallest field-effect transistor 5 or the patterning of proteins with 10 nm feature size 6 . Figure 1a shows a general scheme of SPL operation. There is a variety of approaches to modify a material in a probe-surface interface which have generated several SPL methods. Scanning probe lithographies can be either classified by emphasizing the distinction between the general nature of the process, chemical versus physical, or by considering if SPL implies the removal or addition of material. However, we consider it is more inclusive and systematic to classify the different SPL methods in terms of the driving mechanisms used in the patterning process, namely thermal, electrical, mechanical and diffusive methods (Fig. 1b). Challenges in nanoscale lithographyThe workhorse of large volume CMOS fabrication, o...

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Section: Additional Spl Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced scanning probe lithography

2014

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“…[18][19][20][21][22][23] So far AFM has not been used for displacement experiments because organisms are readily attached to the underside of the AFM cantilever preventing their release onto another position of the substrate. The development of the FluidFM technology 24 combining the precise AFM force feedback with nanofluidics via an incorporated microchannel directly in the cantilever opens novel strategies for the spatial manipulation of biological objects. The microchannel inside the cantilever ends with a submicron aperture at the apex of the pyramidal tip while the other end leads to a reservoir.…”

Section: Force-controlled Spatial Manipulation Of Viable Mammalian Cementioning

confidence: 99%

Force-controlled spatial manipulation of viable mammalian cells and micro-organisms by means of FluidFM technology

Dörig¹,

Stiefel²,

Behr³

et al. 2010

Applied Physics Letters

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The FluidFM technology uses microchanneled atomic force microscope cantilevers that are fixed to a drilled atomic force microscope cantilevers probeholder. A continuous fluidic circuit is thereby achieved extending from an external liquid reservoir, through the probeholder and the hollow cantilever to the tip aperture. In this way, both overpressure and an underpressure can be applied to the liquid reservoir and hence to the built-in fluidic circuit. We describe in this letter how standard atomic force microscopy in combination with regulated pressure differences inside the microchanneled cantilevers can be used to displace living organisms with micrometric precision in a nondestructive way. The protocol is applicable to both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells (e.g., mammalian cells, yeasts, and bacteria) in physiological buffer. By means of this procedure, cells can also be transferred from one glass slide to another one or onto an agar medium.

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“…Using these beads minimizes erroneous contact between the cantilever beam and the cell surface and permits greater spatial averaging of the elastic properties. AFM can be used also to probe the tension of subcellular structures such as the plasma membrane by limiting the cell indentation to decouple the plasma membrane tension from the overall cytoskeletal tension [66,67].…”

Section: Atomic Force Microscopymentioning

confidence: 99%

Pancreatic cancer: a mechanobiology approach

Chronopoulos

Lieberthal

Hernández

2017

Converg. Sci. Phys. Oncol.

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Despite many years of effort from cancer biologists and clinical oncologists, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a thoroughly recalcitrant disease, resisting both conventional forms of cancer treatment and radical innovative therapies. Perhaps driving the lack of success in PDAC is the underappreciation of the primary hallmark of the tumour: a fibrotic extracellular matrix (ECM) that composes a majority of the highly rigid solid carcinoma. In recent years we have come to understand that the homeostasis of ECM mechanics is pivotal for the homeostasis of cells and the progression or initiation of a malignant phenotype. This can be understood by way of mechanobiology, a field that attempts to understand how physical forces like ECM stiffness alter cell behaviour. In this review, we provide an overview of our understanding of PDAC from this perspective and the recent advances in biophysics and engineering that allow for new tools with which to investigate the mechanobiology of PDAC.

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FluidFM: Combining Atomic Force Microscopy and Nanofluidics in a Universal Liquid Delivery System for Single Cell Applications and Beyond

Cited by 386 publications

References 30 publications

Advanced scanning probe lithography

Advanced scanning probe lithography

Force-controlled spatial manipulation of viable mammalian cells and micro-organisms by means of FluidFM technology

Pancreatic cancer: a mechanobiology approach

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