Regensburg 2019 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 18: Cell mechanics II

BP 18.1: Talk

Wednesday, April 3, 2019, 15:00–15:15, H10

Combined Traction Force and Scanning Probe Microscopy for Investigation of Active and Passive Cell Mechanics — •Johannes Rheinlaender, Nicolas Schierbaum, and Tilman E. Schäffer — Institute of Applied Physics, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Germany

Living cells are highly complex systems and their mechanics are governed by the cytoskeleton, which exhibits two outstanding characteristics: "passive" viscoelastic material properties and "active" contractile forces. Understanding their interplay is subject of current research, but there is no technique for the direct measurement of both viscoelastic material properties and contractile forces in parallel. We therefore for the first time directly combined traction force microscopy (TFM) and scanning probe microscopy (SPM), specifically, scanning ion conductance and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Using combined TFM and AFM, we directly measured the relation between viscoelastic material properties in terms of stiffness and fluidity and contractile forces in terms of the net contractile moment on the single-cell level. We found a strong correlation between each stiffness, fluidity, and net contractile moment, suggesting a common mechanism controlling all three parameters. Myosin II inhibition results in concurrent change of all three parameters to this correlation, confirming that the actomyosin machinery concurrently controls both viscoelastic material properties and contractile forces. Further experimental and theoretical work is required for a complete understanding of cell mechanics, but combined TFM and SPM is powerful tool for this purpose.