Abstract
Physical forces and mechanical properties have critical roles in cellular function, physiology and disease. Over the past decade, atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques have enabled substantial advances in our understanding of the tight relationship between force, mechanics and function in living cells and contributed to the growth of mechanobiology. In this Primer, we provide a comprehensive overview of the use of AFM-based force spectroscopy (AFM-FS) to study the strength and dynamics of cell adhesion from the cellular to the single-molecule level, spatially map cell surface receptors and quantify how cells dynamically regulate their mechanical and adhesive properties. We first introduce the importance of force and mechanics in cell biology and the general principles of AFM-FS methods. We describe procedures for sample and AFM probe preparations, the various AFM-FS modalities currently available and their respective advantages and limitations. We also provide details and recommendations for best usage practices, and discuss data analysis, statistics and reproducibility. We then exemplify the potential of AFM-FS in cellular and molecular biology with a series of recent successful applications focusing on viruses, bacteria, yeasts and mammalian cells. Finally, we speculate on the grand challenges in the area for the next decade. Show more
Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
Nature Reviews Methods PrimersVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
NatureOrganisational unit
03870 - Müller, Daniel J. / Müller, Daniel J.
Funding
ETH-20 17-2 - Deciphering how protease-activated receptors regulate integrins to establish cell adhesion (ETHZ)
182587 - Characterizing the cell cycle dependent regulation of adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins (SNF)
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