Fig. 2.

Techniques to measure mechanical properties of cell sheets (A) and spheroids (B). (A) Global mechanical properties of cell sheets can be assessed with uniaxial tensile testing performed on cell sheets attached on two sides, and with stretching of a thin soft elastomeric membrane with attached cell sheet. AFM and nanoindentation can be applied to measure local mechanical properties on the surface of the cell sheet. (B) Spheroid can be compressed between two parallel plates, or osmo-mechanical stress can be applied for the global measurements, while local measurements can be performed with AFM, nanoindentation, and micropipette aspiration