AVS 62nd International Symposium & Exhibition
    Biomaterial Interfaces Tuesday Sessions
       Session BI-TuP

Paper BI-TuP17
Flash Networking Poster: Nanoscale Structures in Live Cells Visualized through High Resolution Imaging and Mechanical Property Mapping

Tuesday, October 20, 2015, 6:30 pm, Room Hall 3

Session: Biomaterial Interfaces Poster Session
Presenter: Bede Pittenger, Bruker
Authors: B. Pittenger, Bruker
H. Schillers, Univ. Muenster
A. Slade, Bruker
J. Shaw, Bruker
S. Hu, Bruker
I. Medalsy, Bruker
T. Mueller, Bruker
Correspondent: Click to Email
Nanoscale structures on or just beneath the cell surface often strongly influence cell function. Atomic Force Microscopy allows measurement of both topography and mechanical properties of these structures on live cells at resolutions far below the diffraction limit. When integrated and synchronized with optical microscopy (including fluorescence, confocal microscopy, and super-resolution imaging) AFM provides new methods of studying the relationship between cell structure and function in near-physiological conditions.

One class of these nanoscale structures is the microvillus -- a structure commonly found on epithelial cells. Epithelial cell function is coupled to the density of microvilli and degradation can cause malabsorption and diarrhea [1]. Observing the both tiny and very flexible structures such as microvilli on the apical surface of a live cell has been very challenging because the native microvilli structures are displaced and deformed by the interaction with the AFM probe.

Another class of nanoscale structure within cells is the actin fibril. These structures make up the actin cytoskeleton and are thought to play an important role in many types of cancer [2]. AFM allows observation of the actin fibrils, their position and their stiffness. PeakForce Tapping (with PeakForce QNM) provides fast, high resolution, quantifiable maps of the distribution of the actin fibrils in the cytoskeleton.

In this talk we will present the first images of microvilli on the membrane surface of living kidney cells obtained by AFM. Because the data was collected with PeakForce Tapping, it is possible to compare the response of the microvilli to different applied forces, and observe the effect of force on microvilli structure. Finally, we will also present mechanical maps of live MDCK cells showing the distribution and stiffness of individual actin fibrils.

[1] E. Cutz, J.M. Rhoads, et al., N. Engl. J. of Med. 320, 646 (2009).

[2] M. F. Olson and E. Sahai, Clin. Exp. Metastasis 26, 273 (2009).