SKM 2023 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 31: Cell Mechanics III

BP 31.7: Talk

Friday, March 31, 2023, 11:45–12:00, BAR 0106

Large area automated structural and mechanical analysis of developing cells and tissues — •Joerg Barner, Tanja Neumann, André Körnig, Dimitar R. Stamov, and Heiko Haschke — JPK BioAFM Business, Bruker Nano GmbH, Am Studio 2D, 12489 Berlin, Germany

Active forces in biological systems define the interactions between single molecules, growing cells and developing tissues. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) can be successfully applied for comprehensive nano-mechanical characterization of such samples under near physiological conditions. Currently, the trend is to extend this by studying the mechanobiology of living cells while evaluating their structure and the interaction with their cell culture substrates.

We will demonstrate how cell spreading and migration in living KPG-7 fibroblasts and CHO cells, can be studied with high-speed AFM and associated with spatially resolved cytoskeletal reorganization events. We will further extend this with high-speed mechanical mapping of confluent cell layers, which in combination with optical tiling can be applied to automated analysis of large sample areas. As a tool for analyzing the complex cellular mechanobiology, we went beyond purely elastic models, and performed sine oscillations (up to 500 Hz, amplitude 5-60 nm) in Z while in contact with the surface to probe the frequency-dependent response of living fibroblasts.