Determination of Constitutive Properties of Single Cells and Intracellular Structures Using Image- and Model-Based Framework

摘要

Determination of constitutive properties plays a key role in quantitative description of cellular mechanics. Existing methods of experimental cell mechanics have one of the following drawbacks: they do not allow unsupervised analysis of large number of cells and/or probing of intracellular structures that are not directly exposed to boundary forces. Alternatively, mechanical behavior of cellular matter can be studied in time-series of microscopic images that capture successive deformation of cellular matter. In this work, we present an image- and model-based framework for determination of constitutive properties of living cells and subcellular structures. Our experimental studies demonstrate application of this approach for quantitative analysis of cellular mechanics on the basis of image data assessed by different experimental techniques, including microplate and optical stretchers as well as fully contactless procedures based on optical monitoring of drug-induced cellular deformation.