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Published October 7, 2022 | Version v1
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Viscoelastic properties of suspended cells measured with shear flow deformation cytometry

Creators

  • 1. York University
  • 2. University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
  • 3. Aix-Marseille University
  • 4. Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
  • 5. Max Planck Institute Erlangen*
  • 6. University of Bayreuth

Description

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. Roscoe 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.

Notes

We provide the data as CSV files (comma-separated uncompressed plain text, the first row contains a header specifying the meaning of each column, and the second row specifying the physical units) and Python scripts for data analysis and presentation.

Funding provided by: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659
Award Number: TRR-SFB 225 subprojects A01, A07, B07

Funding provided by: Horizon 2020
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100007601
Award Number: 812772

Funding provided by: Horizon 2020
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100007601
Award Number: 953121

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2022_10_06.zip

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Additional details

Related works

Is cited by
10.7554/eLife.78823 (DOI)