Dynamical Modeling and Analysis of Viscoelastic Properties of Single Cells

A single cell can be regarded as a complex network that contains thousands of overlapping signaling pathways. The traditional methods for describing the dynamics of this network are extremely complicated. The mechanical properties of a cell reflect the cytoskeletal structure and composition and are closely related to the cellular biological functions and physiological activities. Therefore, modeling the mechanical properties of single cells provides the basis for analyzing and controlling the cellular state. In this study, we developed a dynamical model with cellular viscoelasticity properties as the system parameters to describe the stress-relaxation phenomenon of a single cell indented by an atomic force microscope (AFM). The system order and parameters were identified and analyzed. Our results demonstrated that the parameters identified using this model represent the cellular mechanical elasticity and viscosity and can be used to classify cell types.