Stretching and heating cells with light - Nonlinear photothermal cell rheology

Huster C, Rekhade D, Hausch A, Ahmed S, Hauck N, Thiele J, Guck J, Kroy K, Cojoc G (2020)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

New Journal of Physics Institute of Physics: Open Access Journals / Institute of Physics (IoP) and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft

Book Volume: 22

Article Number: 085003

Journal Issue: 8

DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/aba14b

Abstract

Stretching and heating are everyday experiences for skin and tissue cells. They are also standard procedures to reduce the risk for injuries in physical exercise and to relieve muscle spasms in physiotherapy. Here, we ask which immediate and long-term mechanical effects of such treatments are quantitatively detectable on the level of individual living cells. Combining versatile optical stretcher techniques with a well-tested mathematical model for viscoelastic polymer networks, we investigate the thermomechanical properties of suspended cells with a photothermal rheometric protocol that can disentangle fast transient and slow 'inelastic' components in the nonlinear mechanical response. We find that a certain minimum strength and duration of combined stretching and heating is required to induce long-lived alterations of the mechanical state of the cells, which then respond qualitatively differently to mechanical tests than after weaker/shorter treatments or merely mechanical preconditioning alone. Our results suggest a viable protocol to search for intracellular biomolecular signatures of the mathematically detected dissimilar mechanical response modes.

Authors with CRIS profile

Jochen Guck

Involved external institutions

Universität Leipzig DE Germany (DE) Technische Universität Dresden DE Germany (DE) Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e. V. DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Huster, C., Rekhade, D., Hausch, A., Ahmed, S., Hauck, N., Thiele, J.,... Cojoc, G. (2020). Stretching and heating cells with light - Nonlinear photothermal cell rheology. New Journal of Physics, 22(8). https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aba14b

MLA:

Huster, Constantin, et al. "Stretching and heating cells with light - Nonlinear photothermal cell rheology." New Journal of Physics 22.8 (2020).

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