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Watanabe S, Sugiura H, Arai F. Stiffness Measurement of Organoids Using a Wide-Range Force Sensor Probe Fabricated Using a Quartz Crystal Resonator. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2022. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2022.3144766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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Li Z, Yang X, Zhang Q, Yang W, Zhang H, Liu L, Liang W. Non-invasive acquisition of mechanical properties of cells via passive microfluidic mechanisms: A review. BIOMICROFLUIDICS 2021; 15:031501. [PMID: 34178202 PMCID: PMC8205512 DOI: 10.1063/5.0052185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The demand to understand the mechanical properties of cells from biomedical, bioengineering, and clinical diagnostic fields has given rise to a variety of research studies. In this context, how to use lab-on-a-chip devices to achieve accurate, high-throughput, and non-invasive acquisition of the mechanical properties of cells has become the focus of many studies. Accordingly, we present a comprehensive review of the development of the measurement of mechanical properties of cells using passive microfluidic mechanisms, including constriction channel-based, fluid-induced, and micropipette aspiration-based mechanisms. This review discusses how these mechanisms work to determine the mechanical properties of the cell as well as their advantages and disadvantages. A detailed discussion is also presented on a series of typical applications of these three mechanisms to measure the mechanical properties of cells. At the end of this article, the current challenges and future prospects of these mechanisms are demonstrated, which will help guide researchers who are interested to get into this area of research. Our conclusion is that these passive microfluidic mechanisms will offer more preferences for the development of lab-on-a-chip technologies and hold great potential for advancing biomedical and bioengineering research studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenghua Li
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang 110168, China
| | - Xieliu Yang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang 110168, China
| | - Qi Zhang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang 110168, China
| | - Wenguang Yang
- School of Electromechanical and Automotive Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China
| | - Hemin Zhang
- Department of Neurology, The People's Hospital of Liaoning Province, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Lianqing Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
| | - Wenfeng Liang
- School of Mechanical Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang 110168, China
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Chang D, Hirate T, Uehara C, Maruyama H, Uozumi N, Arai F. Evaluating Young's Modulus of Single Yeast Cells Based on Compression Using an Atomic Force Microscope with a Flat Tip. MICROSCOPY AND MICROANALYSIS : THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF MICROSCOPY SOCIETY OF AMERICA, MICROBEAM ANALYSIS SOCIETY, MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 2021; 27:392-399. [PMID: 33446296 DOI: 10.1017/s1431927620024903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
In this research, atomic force microscopy (AFM) with a flat tip cantilever is utilized to measure Young's modulus of a whole yeast cell (Saccharomyces cerevisiae BY4741). The results acquired from AFM are similar to those obtained using a microfluidic chip compression system. The mechanical properties of single yeast cells are important parameters which can be examined using AFM. Conventional studies apply AFM with a sharp cantilever tip to indent the cell and measure the force-indentation curve, from which Young's modulus can be calculated. However, sharp tips introduce problems because the shape variation can lead to a different result and cannot represent the stiffness of the whole cell. It can lead to a lack of broader meaning when evaluating Young's modulus of yeast cells. In this report, we confirm the differences in results obtained when measuring the compression of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) bead using a commercial sharp tip versus a unique flat tip. The flat tip effectively avoids tip-derived errors, so we use this method to compress whole yeast cells and generate a force–deformation curve. We believe our proposed method is effective for evaluating Young's modulus of whole yeast cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Di Chang
- Department of Micro-Nano Mechanical Science and Engineering, Nagoya University, Room 108, Aerospace Mechanical Engineering Research Building, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi464-8603, Japan
| | - Takahiro Hirate
- Department of Micro-Nano Mechanical Science and Engineering, Nagoya University, Room 108, Aerospace Mechanical Engineering Research Building, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi464-8603, Japan
| | - Chihiro Uehara
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aobayama 6-6-07, Sendai980-8579, Japan
| | - Hisataka Maruyama
- Department of Micro-Nano Mechanical Science and Engineering, Nagoya University, Room 108, Aerospace Mechanical Engineering Research Building, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi464-8603, Japan
| | - Nobuyuki Uozumi
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Aobayama 6-6-07, Sendai980-8579, Japan
| | - Fumihito Arai
- Department of Micro-Nano Mechanical Science and Engineering, Nagoya University, Room 108, Aerospace Mechanical Engineering Research Building, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi464-8603, Japan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo113-8654, Japan
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Ren J, Li Y, Hu S, Liu Y, Tsao SW, Lau D, Luo G, Tsang CM, Lam RHW. Nondestructive quantification of single-cell nuclear and cytoplasmic mechanical properties based on large whole-cell deformation. LAB ON A CHIP 2020; 20:4175-4185. [PMID: 33030494 DOI: 10.1039/d0lc00725k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The mechanical properties of cell nuclei have been recognized to reflect and modulate important cell behaviors such as migration and cancer cell malignant tendency. However, these nuclear properties are difficult to characterize accurately using conventional measurement methods, which are often based on probing or deforming local sites over a nuclear region. The corresponding results are sensitive to the measurement position, and they are not decoupled from the cytoplasmic properties. Microfluidics is widely recognized as a promising technique for bioassay and phenotyping. In this report, we develop a simple and nondestructive approach for the single-cell quantification of nuclear elasticity based on microfluidics by considering different deformation levels of a live cell captured along a confining microchannel. We apply two inlet pressure levels to drive the flow of human nasopharyngeal epithelial cells (NP460) and human nasopharyngeal cancerous cells (NPC43) into the microchannels. A model considering the essential intracellular components (cytoplasm and nucleus) for describing the mechanics of a cell deforming along the confining microchannel is used to back-calculate the cytoplasmic and nuclear properties. On the other hand, we also apply a widely used chemical nucleus extraction technique to examine its possible effects (e.g., reduced nuclear modulus and reduced lamin A/C expression). To determine if the decoupled nuclear properties are representative of cancer-related attributes, we classify the NP460 and NPC43 cells using the decoupled physical properties as classification factors, resulting in an accuracy of 79.1% and a cell-type specificity exceeding 74%. It should be mentioned that the cells can be recollected at the device outlet after the nondestructive measurement. Hence, the reported cell elasticity measurement can be combined with downstream genetic and biochemical assays for general cell research and cancer diagnostic applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jifeng Ren
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Yongshu Li
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Shuhuan Hu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. and BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, Guangdong, China and Guangdong High-Throughput Sequencing Research Center, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Yi Liu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Sai Wah Tsao
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Denvid Lau
- Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Guannan Luo
- Department of Economics and Finance, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Chi Man Tsang
- Department of Anatomical and Cellular Pathology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Raymond H W Lam
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. and City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, China and Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
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Sakuma S, Nakahara K, Arai F. Continuous Mechanical Indexing of Single-Cell Spheroids Using a Robot-Integrated Microfluidic Chip. IEEE Robot Autom Lett 2019. [DOI: 10.1109/lra.2019.2923976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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Chang D, Sakuma S, Kera K, Uozumi N, Arai F. Measurement of the mechanical properties of single Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803 cells in different osmotic concentrations using a robot-integrated microfluidic chip. LAB ON A CHIP 2018; 18:1241-1249. [PMID: 29568834 DOI: 10.1039/c7lc01245d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803 (Synechocystis) is a model microorganism and its mechanosensitive (MS) channels play important roles in its osmoadaptation mechanism. When the osmotic concentration of the culture environment changes, the inner pressure of the cell also changes due to the transportation of water through ion channels. Because the tension in the cell membrane relates to the inner pressure, we expect that the response of the MS channels to an osmotic concentration change could be evaluated by measuring their mechanical properties. Here, we propose a system for the measurement of the mechanical properties of a single Synechocystis cell. We developed a robot-integrated microfluidic chip combined with optical tweezers. The chip has an external actuated pushing probe and a force sensor probe. A single cell was located between the tip of both probes using the optical tweezers and was then deformed using the probes. As a result, we could measure the force and deformation and compare the Young's moduli of two groups: a group of wild type cells and a group of mutant (genetically modified) cells with a defect in the MS channels, at three different osmotic concentrations. The results showed that the Young's modulus of each group changed according to the osmotic concentration, while changes in cell size were too small to be detected. These results confirmed that the proposed evaluation method provides an understanding of the physiological function of MS channels for keeping the cell integrity of microorganisms when the cells are exposed to different external osmotic changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Di Chang
- Department of Micro-Nano Mechanical Science and Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.
| | - Shinya Sakuma
- Department of Micro-Nano Mechanical Science and Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.
| | - Kota Kera
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Nobuyuki Uozumi
- Department of Biomolecular Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Fumihito Arai
- Department of Micro-Nano Mechanical Science and Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.
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