High-throughput ballistic injection nanorheology to measure cell mechanics.
High-throughput ballistic injection nanorheology is a method for the quantitative study of cell mechanics. Cell mechanics are measured by ballistic injection of submicron particles into the cytoplasm of living cells and tracking the spontaneous displacement of the particles at high spatial resolution. The trajectories of the cytoplasm-embedded particles are transformed into mean-squared displacements, which are subsequently transformed into frequency-dependent viscoelastic moduli and time-dependent creep compliance of the cytoplasm. This method allows for the study of a wide range of cellular conditions, including cells inside a 3D matrix, cell subjected to shear flows and biochemical stimuli, and cells in a live animal. Ballistic injection lasts <1 min and is followed by overnight incubation. Multiple particle tracking for one cell lasts <1 min. Forty cells can be examined in <1 h.
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Pei-Hsun
PH
Wu
Christopher M
CM
Hale
Wei-Chiang
WC
Chen
Jerry S H
JS
Lee
Yiider
Y
Tseng
Denis
D
Wirtz
D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000166:cytology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000032:analysis; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods*; D041701:Swiss 3T3 Cells; D055682:Viscoelastic Substances
D055682:Viscoelastic Substances