corner
corner
APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 104 » Issue 21
< Previous Article | Next Article >

Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 218101 (2010) [4 pages]

Aspiration of Biological Viscoelastic Drops

Download: PDF (650 kB) Buy this article Export: BibTeX or EndNote (RIS)

Karine Guevorkian1, Marie-Josée Colbert2, Mélanie Durth3,5, Sylvie Dufour4, and Françoise Brochard-Wyart1,*
1UMR 168, Institut Curie/CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75248 Paris, France
2Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4M1 Canada
3Ladhyx, UMR 7646 CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau, France
4UMR 144, Institut Curie/CNRS, 75248 Paris, France
5Departamento de Ingenería Aeroespacial y Mecánica de Fluidos, Universidad de Sevilla, 41092, Sevilla, Spain

Received 24 November 2009; published 24 May 2010

See accompanying Physics Viewpoint

Spherical cellular aggregates are in vitro systems to study the physical and biophysical properties of tissues. We present a novel approach to characterize the mechanical properties of cellular aggregates using a micropipette aspiration technique. We observe an aspiration in two distinct regimes: a fast elastic deformation followed by a viscous flow. We develop a model based on this viscoelastic behavior to deduce the surface tension, viscosity, and elastic modulus. A major result is the increase of the surface tension with the applied force, interpreted as an effect of cellular mechanosensing.

© 2010 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.218101
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.218101
PACS:
87.19.R-, 87.18.Ed, 87.18.Fx

*brochard@curie.fr

 
< Previous Article | Next Article >