The Inside Story of Brownian Motion :Revealing Intracellular Mechanics

Abstract

The cytoplasm of living cells is filled with cytoskeletal filament networks that dictate the shape and motility of cells. The dynamic and heterogeneous nature of the cytoskeletal network has been visualized, but the limited accessibility of living cytoplasm prevents easy characterization of its physical properties. From the simple observation that the Brownian motion of a particle reveals the mechanics of its microenvironment, a new approach, microrheology, emerged and successfully applied to living cells. Here, we review recent progress in microrheology and the implication for the understanding of subcellular processes in biology.