Cargando…

Force Sensing on Cells and Tissues by Atomic Force Microscopy

Biosensors are aimed at detecting tiny physical and chemical stimuli in biological systems. Physical forces are ubiquitous, being implied in all cellular processes, including cell adhesion, migration, and differentiation. Given the strong interplay between cells and their microenvironment, the extra...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Holuigue, Hatice, Lorenc, Ewelina, Chighizola, Matteo, Schulte, Carsten, Varinelli, Luca, Deraco, Marcello, Guaglio, Marcello, Gariboldi, Manuela, Podestà, Alessandro
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8955449/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35336366
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s22062197
_version_ 1784676338544672768
author Holuigue, Hatice
Lorenc, Ewelina
Chighizola, Matteo
Schulte, Carsten
Varinelli, Luca
Deraco, Marcello
Guaglio, Marcello
Gariboldi, Manuela
Podestà, Alessandro
author_facet Holuigue, Hatice
Lorenc, Ewelina
Chighizola, Matteo
Schulte, Carsten
Varinelli, Luca
Deraco, Marcello
Guaglio, Marcello
Gariboldi, Manuela
Podestà, Alessandro
author_sort Holuigue, Hatice
collection PubMed
description Biosensors are aimed at detecting tiny physical and chemical stimuli in biological systems. Physical forces are ubiquitous, being implied in all cellular processes, including cell adhesion, migration, and differentiation. Given the strong interplay between cells and their microenvironment, the extracellular matrix (ECM) and the structural and mechanical properties of the ECM play an important role in the transmission of external stimuli to single cells within the tissue. Vice versa, cells themselves also use self-generated forces to probe the biophysical properties of the ECM. ECM mechanics influence cell fate, regulate tissue development, and show peculiar features in health and disease conditions of living organisms. Force sensing in biological systems is therefore crucial to dissecting and understanding complex biological processes, such as mechanotransduction. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), which can both sense and apply forces at the nanoscale, with sub-nanonewton sensitivity, represents an enabling technology and a crucial experimental tool in biophysics and mechanobiology. In this work, we report on the application of AFM to the study of biomechanical fingerprints of different components of biological systems, such as the ECM, the whole cell, and cellular components, such as the nucleus, lamellipodia and the glycocalyx. We show that physical observables such as the (spatially resolved) Young’s Modulus (YM) of elasticity of ECMs or cells, and the effective thickness and stiffness of the glycocalyx, can be quantitatively characterized by AFM. Their modification can be correlated to changes in the microenvironment, physio-pathological conditions, or gene regulation.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8955449
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-89554492022-03-26 Force Sensing on Cells and Tissues by Atomic Force Microscopy Holuigue, Hatice Lorenc, Ewelina Chighizola, Matteo Schulte, Carsten Varinelli, Luca Deraco, Marcello Guaglio, Marcello Gariboldi, Manuela Podestà, Alessandro Sensors (Basel) Article Biosensors are aimed at detecting tiny physical and chemical stimuli in biological systems. Physical forces are ubiquitous, being implied in all cellular processes, including cell adhesion, migration, and differentiation. Given the strong interplay between cells and their microenvironment, the extracellular matrix (ECM) and the structural and mechanical properties of the ECM play an important role in the transmission of external stimuli to single cells within the tissue. Vice versa, cells themselves also use self-generated forces to probe the biophysical properties of the ECM. ECM mechanics influence cell fate, regulate tissue development, and show peculiar features in health and disease conditions of living organisms. Force sensing in biological systems is therefore crucial to dissecting and understanding complex biological processes, such as mechanotransduction. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), which can both sense and apply forces at the nanoscale, with sub-nanonewton sensitivity, represents an enabling technology and a crucial experimental tool in biophysics and mechanobiology. In this work, we report on the application of AFM to the study of biomechanical fingerprints of different components of biological systems, such as the ECM, the whole cell, and cellular components, such as the nucleus, lamellipodia and the glycocalyx. We show that physical observables such as the (spatially resolved) Young’s Modulus (YM) of elasticity of ECMs or cells, and the effective thickness and stiffness of the glycocalyx, can be quantitatively characterized by AFM. Their modification can be correlated to changes in the microenvironment, physio-pathological conditions, or gene regulation. MDPI 2022-03-11 /pmc/articles/PMC8955449/ /pubmed/35336366 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s22062197 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Holuigue, Hatice
Lorenc, Ewelina
Chighizola, Matteo
Schulte, Carsten
Varinelli, Luca
Deraco, Marcello
Guaglio, Marcello
Gariboldi, Manuela
Podestà, Alessandro
Force Sensing on Cells and Tissues by Atomic Force Microscopy
title Force Sensing on Cells and Tissues by Atomic Force Microscopy
title_full Force Sensing on Cells and Tissues by Atomic Force Microscopy
title_fullStr Force Sensing on Cells and Tissues by Atomic Force Microscopy
title_full_unstemmed Force Sensing on Cells and Tissues by Atomic Force Microscopy
title_short Force Sensing on Cells and Tissues by Atomic Force Microscopy
title_sort force sensing on cells and tissues by atomic force microscopy
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8955449/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35336366
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s22062197
work_keys_str_mv AT holuiguehatice forcesensingoncellsandtissuesbyatomicforcemicroscopy
AT lorencewelina forcesensingoncellsandtissuesbyatomicforcemicroscopy
AT chighizolamatteo forcesensingoncellsandtissuesbyatomicforcemicroscopy
AT schultecarsten forcesensingoncellsandtissuesbyatomicforcemicroscopy
AT varinelliluca forcesensingoncellsandtissuesbyatomicforcemicroscopy
AT deracomarcello forcesensingoncellsandtissuesbyatomicforcemicroscopy
AT guagliomarcello forcesensingoncellsandtissuesbyatomicforcemicroscopy
AT gariboldimanuela forcesensingoncellsandtissuesbyatomicforcemicroscopy
AT podestaalessandro forcesensingoncellsandtissuesbyatomicforcemicroscopy