Berlin 2015 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 16: Posters: Cell adhesion, mechanics and migration
BP 16.1: Poster
Monday, March 16, 2015, 17:30–19:30, Poster A
Real-time deformability cytometry - a theoretical and experimental analysis — •Alexander Mietke1,2,3, Oliver Otto3, Salvatore Girardo3, Philipp Rosendahl3, Anna Taubenberger3, Elke Ulbricht3, Stefan Golfier3, Jochen Guck3, and Elisabeth Fischer-Friedrich1,2 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Noethnitzer Strasse 38, Dresden, Germany — 2Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, Dresden, Germany — 3Biotechnology Center, TU Dresden, Tatzberg 47/49, 01307 Dresden, Germany
Cell stiffness is a sensitive indicator of physiological and pathological changes in cells with many potential applications in biology and medicine. A new method, Real-Time Deformability Cytometry (RT-DC), probes cell stiffness at high throughput by exposing cells to a shear flow in a microfluidic channel allowing for mechanical phenotyping based on single cell deformability. However, observed deformations of cells in the channel are not only determined by cell stiffness, but also depend on flow speed and cell size relative to channel size. Here, we disentangle mutual contributions of cell size, flow speed and cell stiffness to cell deformation by a theoretical analysis in terms of hydrodynamics and linear elasticity theory. Performing RT-DC experiments on both, model spheres of known elasticity and biological cells, we demonstrate that our analytical model predicts the deformation inside the channel and allows for quantification of cell mechanical parameters making cell stiffness accessible in high-throughput measurements.