Standardized microgel beads as elastic cell mechanical probes
| Autor: | Gheorghe Cojoc, Ruchi Goswami, Anna Taubenberger, Felix Reichel, Mirjam Schuermann, Salvatore Girardo, Katrin Wagner, Dominic Mokbel, Angela Jacobi, Maik Herbig, Christoph Herold, Carsten Werner, Nicole Träber, Julian Thiele, Raimund Schluessler, Paul Markus Mueller, Shada Abuhattum, Jochen Guck, Thomas Heida |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
chemistry.chemical_classification
0303 health sciences Materials science Optical diffraction Microfluidics 02 engineering and technology Polymer Nanoindentation 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology 03 medical and health sciences chemistry Microscopy Composite material Elasticity (economics) 0210 nano-technology Elastic modulus Cytometry 030304 developmental biology |
| DOI: | 10.1101/290569 |
| Popis: | Cell mechanical measurements are gaining increasing interest in biological and biomedical studies. However, there are no standardized calibration particles available that permit the cross-comparison of different measurement techniques operating at different stresses and time-scales. Here we present the rational design, production, and comprehensive characterization of poly-acylamide (PAAm) microgel beads mimicking biological cells. We produced mono-disperse beads at rates of 20 – 60 kHz by means of a microfluidic droplet generator, where the pre-gel composition was adjusted to tune the beads’ elasticity in the range of cell and tissue relevant mechanical properties. We verified bead homogeneity by optical diffraction tomography and Brillouin microscopy. Consistent elastic behavior of microgel beads at different shear rates was confirmed by AFM-enabled nanoindentation and real-time deformability cytometry (RT-DC). The remaining inherent variability in elastic modulus was rationalized using polymer theory and effectively reduced by sorting based on forward-scattering using conventional flow cytometry. Our results show that PAAm microgel beads can be standardized as mechanical probes, to serve not only for validation and calibration of cell mechanical measurements, but also as cell-scale stress sensors.Significance StatementOften vastly different cell mechanical properties are reported even for the same cell type when employing different measurement techniques. This discrepancy shows the urgent need for standardized calibration particles to cross-compare and validate techniques. Microgel beads can serve this purpose, but they have to fulfil specific requirements such as homogeneity, sizes and elasticities in the range of the cells, and they have to provide comparable results independent of the method applied. Here we demonstrate the standardized production of polyacrylamide microgel beads with all the features an elastic cell-mimic should have. These can not only be used as method calibration particles, but can also serve as cell-scale sensors to quantify normal and shear stresses exerted by other cells and inside tissues, enabling many new applications. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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