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Euro Biotechnology 2016
November 07-09, 2016
Volume 6, Issue 7(Suppl) J Biotechnol Biomater
ISSN: 2155-952X JBTBM, an open access journal
conferenceseries .com
November 07-09, 2016 Alicante, Spain
12th Euro Biotechnology Congress
Barbara Orzechowska, J Biotechnol Biomater 2016, 6:7(Suppl)
Atomic force microscopy: A tool to measure mechanical properties of living cells
Barbara Orzechowska
Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
Atomic force microscopy is a very useful tool used to characterize various properties of samples that can be placed in
distinct environment. Its main advantage is to probe elastic properties of living cells in a quantitative manner through the
Young’s (elastic) modulus. Mechanical properties of single cells should play a critical role in the development and progression
of various diseases. In particular, the increased/decreased deformability is manifested in various cancers giving possibility to
use it as a non-labeled biomarker of cancer progression. The main objective of the presented studies is to show neighboring cells
of the same or distinct type influences the mechanical properties of single cells. Thus, as the investigated system, skin cells have
been chosen, namely, fibroblasts (CCL-110), keratinocytes (HaCaT) and melanoma cells from radial growth phase (WM35).
The first step was to measure the elastic properties of both fibroblasts and keratinocytes cultured separately (as a mono-culture)
and together (as a co-culture). Then, the elasticity of keratinocytes and melanoma cells has been probed. All measurements
were carried out at two time points after 24 hours and 48 hours of culture on living cells grown in culture medium of distinct
composition. The obtained results have demonstrated that single cell elasticity, viability and shape are dependent on both the
presence of neighboring cells and medium composition. These findings open further possibility to study the mechanics of
single cancerous cells, embedded within a normal matrix containing normal cells imitating the environmental conditions of
cancer invasion.
Biography
Barbara Orzechowska has completed her Master’s degree at the Jagiellonian University in 2012. She is currently a PhD student at the Institute of Nuclear Physics
Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow, Poland.