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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Nov 1.
Published in final edited form as: Eur Biophys J. 2012 Sep 2;41(11):939–947. doi: 10.1007/s00249-012-0851-3

Figure 2.

Figure 2

TNF-α induces changes in EC mechanical properties. (a) Box and whisker plot indicates EC stiffness decreases with 24-hour TNF-α treatment, both at the cell body and periphery regions, as measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM). *** indicates P<0.001 using a Student's t-test. AFM deflection images of (b) control and (c) 24-hour TNF-α-treated ECs display the drastic change in morphology that occurs in most cells upon TNF-α exposure. AFM images are 90 μm by 90 μm. (d) Using AFM topographic information, cellular volume was estimated by summing the volume of two ellipsoids, for the flattened portion of the cell and cell body, using the equation and procedure outlined in the Methods section. Top and side views of the relevant dimensions are shown. (f) Estimates of cellular volume for control and 24-hour TNF-α-treated ECs. * indicates P<0.05 using a Student's t-test.