Figure 4.

Tensile test of the cuticle using a microfluidic device. (a) The isolated cuticle is free of cellular and membranous material. Scale bar, 100 μm. (b) Side view of a three-layer chip to apply stretching force on an isolated cuticle. (c) The PDMS membrane was deflated using a pressure pump with and without the cuticle. The membrane deflection h was recorded as a function of the applied pressure P. N2/day 1: n = 3. (d) Agreement of stress-strain curves acquired using the tensile test (TT) with osmotic shock (OS) measurements. Aged (day 10) wild-type worms have higher stiffness than day 1 worms. N2/day 1/TT: n = 4, N2/day 10/TT: n = 4, N2/day 1/OS: n = 3, N2/day 10/OS: n = 3; two biological replicates. To see this figure in color, go online.