Micropipette-based biomechanical nanotools on living cells

• Published in: European biophysics journal Vol. 51; no. 2; pp. 119 - 133
• Main Authors: Wang, Haoqing, Zhou, Fang, Guo, Yuze, Ju, Lining Arnold
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-03-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Assaying; Biochemistry; Biological and Medical Physics; Biomechanical Phenomena; Biomechanics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomolecules; Biophysics; Cell Biology; Kinetics; Life Sciences; Ligands; Mechanical Phenomena; Mechanical properties; Membrane Biology; Nanotechnology; Neurobiology; Organelles; Proteins - chemistry; Receptors; Review; Sensory integration; Stiffness; Dynamic force spectroscopy; Micropipette; Cortical tension; Mechanobiology
• ISSN: 0175-7571; 1432-1017
• DOI: 10.1007/s00249-021-01587-5

Mechanobiology is an emerging field at the interface of biology and mechanics, investigating the roles of mechanical forces within biomolecules, organelles, cells, and tissues. As a highlight, the recent advances of micropipette-based aspiration assays and dynamic force spectroscopies such as biomembrane force probe (BFP) provide unprecedented mechanobiological insights with excellent live-cell compatibility. In their classic applications, these assays measure force-dependent ligand–receptor-binding kinetics, protein conformational changes, and cellular mechanical properties such as cortical tension and stiffness. In recent years, when combined with advanced microscopies in high spatial and temporal resolutions, these biomechanical nanotools enable characterization of receptor-mediated cell mechanosensing and subsequent organelle behaviors at single-cellular and molecular level. In this review, we summarize the latest developments of these assays for live-cell mechanobiology studies. We also provide perspectives on their future upgrades with multimodal integration and high-throughput capability.