title: Statistical study of biomechanics of living brain cells during growth and maturation on artificial substrates.
abstract: There is increasing evidence that mechanical issues play a vital role in neuron growth and brain development. The importance of this grows as novel devices, whose material properties differ from cells, are increasingly implanted in the body. In this work, we studied the mechanical properties of rat brain cells over time and on different materials by using a high throughput magnetic tweezers system. It was found that the elastic moduli of both neurite and soma in networked neurons increased with growth. However, neurites at DIV4 exhibited a relatively high stiffness, which could be ascribed to the high outgrowth tension. The power-law exponents (viscoelasticity) of both neurites and somas of neurons decreased with culture time. On the other hand, the stiffness of glial cells also increased with maturity. Furthermore, both neurites and glia become softer when cultured on compliant substrates. Especially, the glial cells cultured on a soft substrate obviously showed a less dense and more porous actin and GFAP mesh. In addition, the viscoelasticity of both neurites and glia did not show a significant dependence on the substrates' stiffness.
authors: Institute of Bioelectronics (ICS-8/PGI-8), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors: La
authors: L
authors: Chen
authors: Institute of Bioelectronics (ICS-8/PGI-8), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors: Wenfang
authors: W
authors: Li
authors: Institute of Bioelectronics (ICS-8/PGI-8), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors: Vanessa
authors: V
authors: Maybeck
authors: Institute of Bioelectronics (ICS-8/PGI-8), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany.
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Offenhäusser
authors: Institute of Bioelectronics (ICS-8/PGI-8), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany. Electronic address: h.-j.krause@fz-juelich.de.
authors: Hans-Joachim
authors: HJ
authors: Krause
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D049108:Cell Enlargement; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000502:physiology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D055119:Elastic Modulus / Q000502:physiology; D006244:Hardness / Q000502:physiology; D008422:Materials Testing; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials
keywords: Biomechanics; Brain cell; Foreign body reaction; Magnetic tweezers