Non-contact elastography methods in mechanobiology: a point of view

Caponi, S., Passeri, A., Capponi, G., Fioretto, D., Vassalli, M. and Mattarelli, M. (2022) Non-contact elastography methods in mechanobiology: a point of view. European Biophysics Journal, 51(2), pp. 99-104. (doi: 10.1007/s00249-021-01567-9) (PMID:34463775)

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Abstract

In recent decades, mechanobiology has emerged as a novel perspective in the context of basic biomedical research. It is now widely recognized that living cells respond not only to chemical stimuli (for example drugs), but they are also able to decipher mechanical cues, such as the rigidity of the underlying matrix or the presence of shear forces. Probing the viscoelastic properties of cells and their local microenvironment with sub-micrometer resolution is required to study this complex interplay and dig deeper into the mechanobiology of single cells. Current approaches to measure mechanical properties of adherent cells mainly rely on the exploitation of miniaturized indenters, to poke single cells while measuring the corresponding deformation. This method provides a neat implementation of the everyday approach to measure mechanical properties of a material, but it typically results in a very low throughput and invasive experimental protocol, poorly translatable towards three-dimensional living tissues and biological constructs. To overcome the main limitations of nanoindentation experiments, a radical paradigm change is foreseen, adopting next generation contact-less methods to measure mechanical properties of biological samples with sub-cell resolution. Here we briefly introduce the field of single cell mechanical characterization, and we concentrate on a promising high resolution optical elastography technique, Brillouin spectroscopy. This non-contact technique is rapidly emerging as a potential breakthrough innovation in biomechanics, but the application to single cells is still in its infancy.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:Open access funding provided by Università degli Studi di Perugia within the CRUI-CARE Agreement. CNR-Short Term Mobility 2019; Royal Society International Exchange program IEC\R2\202232.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Vassalli, Professor Massimo
Authors: Caponi, S., Passeri, A., Capponi, G., Fioretto, D., Vassalli, M., and Mattarelli, M.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Biomedical Engineering
Journal Name:European Biophysics Journal
Publisher:Springer
ISSN:0175-7571
ISSN (Online):1432-1017
Published Online:31 August 2021
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2021 The Authors
First Published:First published in European Biophysics Journal 51(2): 99-104
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence

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