Table 1.

Mechanical properties of cells reported in the literature

Aspects of cell mechanics	Cell type	Magnitude	Tool/Technique	References
Stiffness	Fibroblasts Fibroblasts Vascular endothelial cells Vascular smooth muscle cells Rat ASM(airway smooth muscle)cells	0.02    N/m 0.02    N/m 0.03–0.04  N/m 0.09–0.88  N/m 0.099    N/m	Mcropipette Magnetic twisting cytometer	[231] [232]
Elastic modulus	Cancer MCF-7 cell Osteoblasts Skeletal muscle cells Cardiocytes Erythrocytes Leukocytes Fibroblasts Endothelial cells Outer hair cells	0.95 – 1.19   kPa 0.3–20    kPa 8–45    kPa 90–110   kPa 14–33     kPa 0.2–1.4   kPa 0.6–12    kPa 0.2–2     kPa 2–4     kPa	Atomic force microscopy	[233] [234] [235,236] [237] [238,239] [240] [241,242] [243] [244]
Viscoelasticity	Cytoplasm	210    Pa s 2000     Pa s	Magnetic bead microrheology	[245] [246]
Cell adhesion force	Human cervical carcinoma cell Epithelial cells Murine fibroblast cells Rat cardiac fibroblast	19–204    nN 100    nN 300–400  nN 10     nN	Atomic force microscopy High-speed centrifugation technique Manipulation force microscope Traction force microscopy	[247] [248] [249] [250]
Cell traction forces	Fibroblasts Fish keratocytes	100     nN 20     nN	Microcantilevers micro pads Flexible substrate	[251] [58]
Shear stress	Endothelial cells Bovine aortic endothelial cells Human umbilical vein endothelial cells	1–15    dyn/cm2 10     dyn/cm2 1–3     dyn/cm2	Microfluidics	[252-254] [255] [256]