Atomic force microscopy measurements of mechanical properties of single cells patterned by microcontact printing

Abstract

To investigate the mechanical properties of adherent cells under conditions where cell-to-cell interaction can be prevented and controlled, we used microcontact printing to pattern single cells without intercellular contacts and measured them with a custom-built atomic force microscopy (AFM) system. The motorized AFM system can measure individual cells over a large spatial range, enabling the measurement of cells in a microarray format. We tested single fibroblast cells and found that the power-law of their complex shear modulus is not significantly influenced by cell-to-cell contact. This method is effective for obtaining high-throughput measurements on single cells.