title: Nanomechanics of Cells and Biomaterials Studied by Atomic Force Microscopy.
abstract: The behavior and mechanical properties of cells are strongly dependent on the biochemical and biomechanical properties of their microenvironment. Thus, understanding the mechanical properties of cells, extracellular matrices, and biomaterials is key to understanding cell function and to develop new materials with tailored mechanical properties for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has emerged as an indispensable technique for measuring the mechanical properties of biomaterials and cells with high spatial resolution and force sensitivity within physiologically relevant environments and timescales in the kPa to GPa elastic modulus range. The growing interest in this field of bionanomechanics has been accompanied by an expanding array of models to describe the complexity of indentation of hierarchical biological samples. Furthermore, the integration of AFM with optical microscopy techniques has further opened the door to a wide range of mechanotransduction studies. In recent years, new multidimensional and multiharmonic AFM approaches for mapping mechanical properties have been developed, which allow the rapid determination of, for example, cell elasticity. This Progress Report provides an introduction and practical guide to making AFM-based nanomechanical measurements of cells and surfaces for tissue engineering applications.
authors.affiliation: Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Jason I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Kilpatrick
authors.affiliation: Asylum Research an Oxford Instruments Company, 6310 Hollister Avenue, Santa Barbara, CA, 93117, USA.
authors.forename: Irène
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Revenko
authors.affiliation: Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland, School of Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002477:Cells / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000187:drug effects*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials
keywords: atomic force microscopy; biomaterials; cell elasticity; nanomechanics; tissue engineering