Measuring cell forces by a photoelastic method
Adam S.G. Curtis 1*, Lucia Sokolikova-Csaderova 1 and Gregor Aitchison 1
1 University of Glasgow
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: a.curtis{at}bio.gla.ac.uk.
Submitted on May 15, 2006
Revised on July 19, 2006
Accepted on 27 November 2006
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Abstract |
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A new method for measuring the mechanical forces exerted by cells on the substratum and through the substratum to act on other nearby cells is described. This method depends upon the growth of cells on a photoelastic substratum, polydimethylsiloxane coated with a near monolayer of fibronectin. Changes in the forces applied by the cells to the substratum lead to changes in birefringence which can be measured and recorded by the Polscope computer-controlled polarising microscope. The changes in azimuth and retardance can be measured. A method for calibrating the stresses is described. The method is sensitive down to stresses of 1 piconewton per square micron. Fairly rapid changes with time can be recorded with a time resolution of about 1 second. This method is also suitable for measuring the forces cells use to interact, through deformations of the substratum, with other cells.
The observations show that both isolated adhering, spread cells and also cells near to contact exert stresses on the substratum and that the stresses are those that would be produced by forces of 10-1000 pN per cell. The forces are almost certainly exerted on nearby cells since movement of one cell causes strains to appear around other nearby cells. The method has the limitation that strains under the cells, though detectable in principle, are unclear due to birefringence of the components of the cytoplasm and nucleus. It is of a special interest that the strains on the substratum can change in the time course of a few seconds and appear to be concentrated near the base of the lamellopodium of the cell as though they originated there. As well as exerting forces on the substratum in the direction of the long axis of the cell
appreciable forces are exerted from the lateral sides of the cell.
Key Words:
Birefringence, Force measurment for biological cells, Photoelasticity, Pol-force microscopy
