title: Development of a device to stretch tissue-like materials and to measure their mechanical properties by scanning probe microscopy.
abstract: We have developed a new stretch device to investigate the biomechanical responses to an external loading force on a tissue-like material consisting of cells and a collagen gel. Collagen gel, a typical matrix found abundantly in the connective tissue, was attached to an elastic chamber that was precoated with a thin layer of collagen. Madin-Darby canine kidney cells that were cultured on the collagen gel were stretched in a uniaxial direction via deformation of the elastic chamber. Changes in the morphology and stiffness of the tissue-like structure were measured before and after the stretch using wide-range scanning probe microscopy (WR-SPM). The change in cellular morphology was heterogeneous, and there was a twofold increase in the intercellular junction due to the stretch. In addition to the WR-SPM measurements, this device enables observation of the spatial distribution of cytoskeletal proteins such as vimentin and alpha-catenin using immunofluorescent microscopy. We concluded that the stretch device we have reported in this paper is useful for measuring the mechanical response of a tissue-like material over a range of cell sizes when exposed to an external loading force.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, North 10 West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan. mizutani@sci.hokudai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takeomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mizutani
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Haga
authors.forename: Kazushige
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawabata
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001698:Biomedical Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D002460:Cell Line; D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible / Q000737:chemistry; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry; D004285:Dogs; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry; D020527:Microscopy, Scanning Probe / Q000379:methods*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014746:Vimentin / Q000378:metabolism; D051178:alpha Catenin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020099:Coated Materials, Biocompatible; D005782:Gels; D014746:Vimentin; D051178:alpha Catenin; D003094:Collagen