Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Biophysical Journal logoLink to Biophysical Journal
. 1989 Apr;55(4):683–690. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(89)82867-X

Cell poking: quantitative analysis of indentation of thick viscoelastic layers.

M Duszyk 1, B Schwab 3rd 1, G I Zahalak 1, H Qian 1, E L Elson 1
PMCID: PMC1330552  PMID: 2720066

Abstract

A recently introduced device, the cell poker, measures the force required to indent the exposed surface of a cell adherent to a rigid substratum. The cell poker has provided phenomenological information about the viscoelastic properties of several different types of cells, about mechanical changes triggered by external stimuli, and about the role of the cytoskeleton in these mechanical functions. Except in special cases, however, it has not been possible to extract quantitative estimates of viscosity and elasticity moduli from cell poker measurements. This paper presents cell poker measurements of well characterized viscoelastic polymeric materials, polydimethylsiloxanes of different degrees of polymerization, in a simple shape, a flat, thick layer, which for our purposes can be treated as a half space. Analysis of the measurements in terms of a linear viscoelasticity theory yields viscosity values for three polymer samples in agreement with those determined by measurements on a macroscopic scale. Theoretical analysis further indicates that the measured limiting static elasticity of the layers may result from the tension generated at the interface between the polymer and water. This work demonstrates the possibility of obtaining quantitative viscoelastic material properties from cell poker measurements and represents the first step in extending these quantitative studies to more complicated structures including cells.

Full text

PDF
683

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bourguignon L. Y., Bourguignon G. J. Capping and the cytoskeleton. Int Rev Cytol. 1984;87:195–224. doi: 10.1016/s0074-7696(08)62443-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bray D., Heath J., Moss D. The membrane-associated 'cortex' of animal cells: its structure and mechanical properties. J Cell Sci Suppl. 1986;4:71–88. doi: 10.1242/jcs.1986.supplement_4.5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chasis J. A., Shohet S. B. Red cell biochemical anatomy and membrane properties. Annu Rev Physiol. 1987;49:237–248. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ph.49.030187.001321. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chien S. Red cell deformability and its relevance to blood flow. Annu Rev Physiol. 1987;49:177–192. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ph.49.030187.001141. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cooper J. A., Bryan J., Schwab B., 3rd, Frieden C., Loftus D. J., Elson E. L. Microinjection of gelsolin into living cells. J Cell Biol. 1987 Mar;104(3):491–501. doi: 10.1083/jcb.104.3.491. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Daily B., Elson E. L., Zahalak G. I. Cell poking. Determination of the elastic area compressibility modulus of the erythrocyte membrane. Biophys J. 1984 Apr;45(4):671–682. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(84)84209-5. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Elson E. L. Cellular mechanics as an indicator of cytoskeletal structure and function. Annu Rev Biophys Biophys Chem. 1988;17:397–430. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bb.17.060188.002145. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Howard T. H., Oresajo C. O. The kinetics of chemotactic peptide-induced change in F-actin content, F-actin distribution, and the shape of neutrophils. J Cell Biol. 1985 Sep;101(3):1078–1085. doi: 10.1083/jcb.101.3.1078. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Liu Z. Y., Young J. I., Elson E. L. Rat basophilic leukemia cells stiffen when they secrete. J Cell Biol. 1987 Dec;105(6 Pt 2):2933–2943. doi: 10.1083/jcb.105.6.2933. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Pasternak C., Elson E. L. Lymphocyte mechanical response triggered by cross-linking surface receptors. J Cell Biol. 1985 Mar;100(3):860–872. doi: 10.1083/jcb.100.3.860. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Petersen N. O., McConnaughey W. B., Elson E. L. Dependence of locally measured cellular deformability on position on the cell, temperature, and cytochalasin B. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Sep;79(17):5327–5331. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.17.5327. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Pfeiffer J. R., Seagrave J. C., Davis B. H., Deanin G. G., Oliver J. M. Membrane and cytoskeletal changes associated with IgE-mediated serotonin release from rat basophilic leukemia cells. J Cell Biol. 1985 Dec;101(6):2145–2155. doi: 10.1083/jcb.101.6.2145. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Schmid-Schönbein G. W., Sung K. L., Tözeren H., Skalak R., Chien S. Passive mechanical properties of human leukocytes. Biophys J. 1981 Oct;36(1):243–256. doi: 10.1016/S0006-3495(81)84726-1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Vacquier V. D. Dynamic changes of the egg cortex. Dev Biol. 1981 May;84(1):1–26. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(81)90366-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Biophysical Journal are provided here courtesy of The Biophysical Society

RESOURCES