Elasto-mechanical properties of living cells

The possibility to directly measure the elasticity of living cell has emerged only in the last few decades. In the present study the elastic properties of two cell lines were followed. Both types are widely used as cell barrier models (e.g. blood-brain barrier). During time resolved measurement of the living cell elasticity a continuous quasi-periodic oscillation of the elastic modulus was observed. Fast Fourier transformation of the signals revealed that a very limited number of three to five Fourier terms fitted the signal in the case of human cerebral endothelial cells. In the case of canine kidney epithelial cells more than 8 Fourier terms did not result a good fit. Calculating the correlation between nucleus and periphery of the signals revealed a higher correlation factor for the endothelial cells compared to the epithelial cells.