Institution: | aGomel State Medical University, 5, Lange str., Gomel 246000, Belarus bGomel State Technical University, 48, ave. Oktyabrya, Gomel 246746, Belarus cA.V. Lykov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute of NASB, 15, Brouki str., Minsk 220072, Belarus dInstitute of General Pathology and Pathophysiology, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, 8, Baltiiskaya St., Moscow 125315, Russian Federation |
Abstract: | Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has recently provided the great progress in the study of micro- and nanostructures including living cells and cell organelles. Modern AFM techniques allow solving a number of problems of cell biomechanics due to simultaneous evaluation of the local mechanical properties and the topography of the living cells at a high spatial resolution and force sensitivity. Particularly, force spectroscopy is used for mapping mechanical properties of a single cell that provides information on cellular structures including cytoskeleton structure. This entry is aimed to review the recent AFM applications for the study of dynamics and mechanical properties of intact cells associated with different cell events such as locomotion, differentiation and aging, physiological activation and electromotility, as well as cell pathology. Local mechanical characteristics of different cell types including muscle cells, endothelial and epithelial cells, neurons and glial cells, fibroblasts and osteoblasts, blood cells and sensory cells are analyzed in this paper. |