EVALUATING NUCLEUS EFFECT ON THE CELL MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR

摘要

The effect of nucleus on the cell indentation response is studied using numerical simulations. The results show that nucleus contributes much less to the overall cell modulus than cytoplasm in indentation measurements. The effect of nucleus on the overall cell viscosity can be neglected. Due to the appearance of a stiffer nucleus, the underestimation of contact radius and the substrate stiffening effect are significantly increased, which can introduce over 5 times overestimation of the effect of nucleus on the overall cell modulus based on the conventional indentation analysis.