title: Linear microrheology with optical tweezers of living cells 'is not an option'!
abstract: Optical tweezers have been successfully adopted as exceptionally sensitive transducers for microrheology studies of complex fluids. Despite the general trend, in this article I explain why a similar approach should not be adopted for microrheology studies of living cells. This conclusion is acheived on the basis of statistical mechanics principles that indicate the unsuitability of optical tweezers for such purpose.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8LT, UK. Manlio.Tassieri@glasgow.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Manlio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tassieri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004548:Elasticity; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D052898:Optical Tweezers; D010271:Parasites / Q000502:physiology; D012212:Rheology; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D005782:Gels