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Nature communications
06 11, 2021;12 (1): 3552.

Real-time imaging of cellular forces using optical interference.

Andrew T Meek, Nils M Kronenberg, Andrew Morton, Philipp Liehm, Jan Murawski, Eleni Dalaka, Jonathan H Booth, Simon J Powis, Malte C Gather
Author Information
  1. Andrew T Meek: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, UK.
  2. Nils M Kronenberg: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, UK. ORCID
  3. Andrew Morton: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, UK.
  4. Philipp Liehm: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, UK. ORCID
  5. Jan Murawski: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, UK.
  6. Eleni Dalaka: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, UK. ORCID
  7. Jonathan H Booth: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, UK.
  8. Simon J Powis: School of Medicine, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, UK. ORCID
  9. Malte C Gather: SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, UK. mcg6@st-andrews.ac.uk. ORCID
PMID: 34117241 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23734-4

Abstract

Important dynamic processes in mechanobiology remain elusive due to a lack of tools to image the small cellular forces at play with sufficient speed and throughput. Here, we introduce a fast, interference-based force imaging method that uses the illumination of an elastic deformable microcavity with two rapidly alternating wavelengths to map forces. We show real-time acquisition and processing of data, obtain images of mechanical activity while scanning across a cell culture, and investigate sub-second fluctuations of the piconewton forces exerted by macrophage podosomes. We also demonstrate force imaging of beating neonatal cardiomyocytes at 100 fps which reveals mechanical aspects of spontaneous oscillatory contraction waves in between the main contraction cycles. These examples illustrate the wider potential of our technique for monitoring cellular forces with high throughput and excellent temporal resolution.

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MeSH Term

Animals
Cell Adhesion
Diagnostic Imaging
Fibroblasts
Humans
Macrophages
Mechanotransduction, Cellular
Mice
Microscopy, Interference
Models, Theoretical
NIH 3T3 Cells
Podosomes
Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Article has an altmetric score of 13

Word Cloud

Created with Highcharts 10.0.0forcescellularimagingthroughputforcemechanicalcontractionImportantdynamicprocessesmechanobiologyremainelusiveduelacktoolsimagesmallplaysufficientspeedintroducefastinterference-basedmethodusesilluminationelasticdeformablemicrocavitytworapidlyalternatingwavelengthsmapshowreal-timeacquisitionprocessingdataobtainimagesactivityscanningacrosscellcultureinvestigatesub-secondfluctuationspiconewtonexertedmacrophagepodosomesalsodemonstratebeatingneonatalcardiomyocytes100fpsrevealsaspectsspontaneousoscillatorywavesmaincyclesexamplesillustratewiderpotentialtechniquemonitoringhighexcellenttemporalresolutionReal-timeusingopticalinterference

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