Abstract
Simple SummaryMechanical properties of biological tissues are increasingly recognized as important in biology. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is one of the main tools used to assess elastic properties of various types of biological samples. It has been noted that elasticity values frequently follow a log-normal distribution. We propose in this communication a physical model explaining this fact, and we propose that distribution-type analysis could increase the information obtained from AFM studies on biological tissues.The mechanosensitivity of cells has recently been identified as a process that could greatly influence a cell’s fate. To understand the interaction between cells and their surrounding extracellular matrix, the characterization of the mechanical properties of natural polymeric gels is needed. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is one of the leading tools used to characterize mechanically biological tissues. It appears that the elasticity (elastic modulus) values obtained by AFM presents a log-normal distribution. Despite its ubiquity, the log-normal distribution concerning the elastic modulus of biological tissues does not have a clear explanation. In this paper, we propose a physical mechanism based on the weak universality of critical exponents in the percolation process leading to gelation. Following this, we discuss the relevance of this model for mechanical signatures of biological tissues.
Highlights
Following the tremendous progress in research on the pathological processes involved in cancer [1], the mechanical properties of the tumor microenvironment have been increasingly recognized as key parameters in cancer biology [2]
We conclude that a physical explanation is needed and that this heuristic argument is unable to provide a model for the log-normal distribution of elastic modulus values found in polymeric gels
This model relies on a low universality of elasticity found in biological polymeric gels
Summary
Following the tremendous progress in research on the pathological processes involved in cancer [1], the mechanical properties of the tumor microenvironment have been increasingly recognized as key parameters in cancer biology [2]. Due to its superior precision and simple sample preparation, AFM is considered to be more reliable and accurate in analyzing the mechanical properties of tissues at the cell level. We have noticed that AFM data of biogels (in this article) or cells [9] frequently present a log-normal distribution. This pattern is a general feature of biological variables as log-normal distributions have been noticed in many biological phenomena [10]. We propose a physical model that could explain the observed log-normal distribution of elastic moduli in biopolymeric gels constitutive of the extracellular matrix
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