RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Viscoelastic properties of suspended cells measured with shear flow deformation cytometry
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.01.11.475843
DO 10.1101/2022.01.11.475843
A1 Richard Gerum
A1 Elham Mirzahossein
A1 Mar Eroles
A1 Jennifer Elsterer
A1 Astrid Mainka
A1 Andreas Bauer
A1 Selina Sonntag
A1 Alexander Winterl
A1 Johannes Bartl
A1 Lena Fischer
A1 Shada Abuhattum
A1 Ruchi Goswami
A1 Salvatore Girardo
A1 Jochen Guck
A1 Stefan Schrüfer
A1 Nadine Ströhlein
A1 Mojtaba Nosratlo
A1 Harald Herrmann
A1 Dorothea Schultheis
A1 Felix Rico
A1 Sebastian Müller
A1 Stephan Gekle
A1 Ben Fabry
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/01/12/2022.01.11.475843.abstract
AB Numerous cell functions are accompanied by phenotypic changes in viscoelastic properties, and measuring them can help elucidate higher-level cellular functions in health and disease. We present a high-throughput, simple and low-cost microfluidic method for quantitatively measuring the elastic (storage) and viscous (loss) modulus of individual cells. Cells are suspended in a high-viscosity fluid and are pumped with high pressure through a 5.8 cm long and 200 µm wide microfluidic channel. The fluid shear stress induces large, near ellipsoidal cell deformations. In addition, the flow profile in the channel causes the cells to rotate in a tank-treading manner. From the cell deformation and tank treading frequency, we extract the frequency-dependent viscoelastic cell properties based on a theoretical framework developed by R. Roscoe1 that describes the deformation of a viscoelastic sphere in a viscous fluid under steady laminar flow. We confirm the accuracy of the method using atomic force microscopy-calibrated polyacrylamide beads and cells. Our measurements demonstrate that suspended cells exhibit power-law, soft glassy rheological behavior that is cell cycle-dependent and mediated by the physical interplay between the actin filament and intermediate filament networks.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.