Aspiration of biological viscoelastic drops

Phys Rev Lett. 2010 May 28;104(21):218101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.218101. Epub 2010 May 24.

Abstract

Spherical cellular aggregates are in vitro systems to study the physical and biophysical properties of tissues. We present a novel approach to characterize the mechanical properties of cellular aggregates using a micropipette aspiration technique. We observe an aspiration in two distinct regimes: a fast elastic deformation followed by a viscous flow. We develop a model based on this viscoelastic behavior to deduce the surface tension, viscosity, and elastic modulus. A major result is the increase of the surface tension with the applied force, interpreted as an effect of cellular mechanosensing.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biomechanical Phenomena
  • Biopsy, Needle / methods*
  • Cell Aggregation
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Elasticity*
  • Mice
  • Surface Tension
  • Viscosity