Atomic Force Microscopy with Microfabricated Substrates for Probing Single Cell Rheology

Abstract

Living cells are viscoelastic materials, and thus the cell modulus changes with time and frequency. Recent progress in atomic force microscopy (AFM) combined with cell microarray substrates revealed that the number distribution of the complex shear modulus of cells exhibited a log-normal and became narrower with frequency, according to the power-law rheology model. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the force propagation between focal adhesions on the apical and basal cell surfaces could be directly measured using AFM with micropost substrates.