Adaptation of flexible polymer fabrication to cellular mechanics study

Zhao, Yunhui; Zhang, Xin

doi:10.1063/1.2061861

Cited by 26 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…More specifically, these micropillars must have: 1) low stiffness allowing for the measurement of mechanical forces of cells in the piconewtons to micronewtons level; 2) they must be able to operate in biological environments, such as cultivated liquid or normal saline; and 3) they must have good biological compatibility, so that cells can survive on the micropillar array for a long period of time. To satisfy these requirements, the micropillars must be fabricated with nontoxic soft polymers [9]- [11]. The highly compliant biocompatible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) meets all the required material characteristics for cellular traction force measurements and is thus chosen for the fabrication of micropillar arrays.…”

Section: T He Mechanical Interaction Between Cells and Theirmentioning

confidence: 99%

Viscoelastic Characterization and Modeling of Polymer Transducers for Biological Applications

Lin

Liao

et al. 2009

J. Microelectromech. Syst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is an important polymeric material widely used in bio-MEMS devices such as micropillar arrays for cellular mechanical force measurements. The accuracy of such a measurement relies on choosing an appropriate material constitutive model for converting the measured structural deformations into corresponding reaction forces. However, although PDMS is a well-known viscoelastic material, many researchers in the past have treated it as a linear elastic material, which could result in errors of cellular traction force interpretation. In this paper, the mechanical properties of PDMS were characterized by using uniaxial compression, dynamic mechanical analysis, and nanoindentation tests, as well as finite element analysis (FEA). A generalized Maxwell model with the use of two exponential terms was used to emulate the mechanical behavior of PDMS at room temperature. After we found the viscoelastic constitutive law of PDMS, we used it to develop a more accurate model for converting deflection data to cellular traction forces. Moreover, in situ cellular traction force evolutions of cardiac myocytes were demonstrated by using this new conversion model. The results presented by this paper are believed to be useful for biologists who are interpreting similar physiological processes.[ 2008-0318]Index Terms-Cellular traction force, finite-element analysis (FEA), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), transducer, viscoelasticity.

show abstract

Section: T He Mechanical Interaction Between Cells and Theirmentioning

confidence: 99%

Viscoelastic Characterization and Modeling of Polymer Transducers for Biological Applications

Lin

Liao

et al. 2009

J. Microelectromech. Syst.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Cells attach and spread across the top surface of the regularly ordered microposts and since each micropost is discrete, it detects the cell traction forces independently at the site where it contacts the cell. This technology has been used to study cardiac fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Note: Mechanical study of micromachined polydimethylsiloxane elastic microposts

Cheng

Sun

Meininger

et al. 2010

Review of Scientific Instruments

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper reports the detailed statistical measurement of Young's modulus (E) and spring constant of micromachined three-dimensional polydimethylsiloxane microposts with various sizes using atomic force microscope. The paper also describes the design and fabrication of these microposts. The micropost array was fabricated with a height to diameter aspect ratio of up to 10. We have found that posts with different sizes have different E values, and posts that are cured at room temperature have smaller Young's modulus than the ones that are cured at 65 °C for the same duration.

show abstract

“…In our design, the parallel polymeric sidewalls and the large polymeric posts are slightly higher than the embedded micropillars (in the order of a few lm). The difference in the features' height was enabled by the pressure-assisted micromolding process as we previous demonstrated [Zhao et al, 2005]. Therefore, the recessed microchambers are formed for hosting individual cells.…”

Section: Chip Design and Fabricationmentioning

confidence: 93%

Simultaneous orientation and cellular force measurements in adult cardiac myocytes using three‐dimensional polymeric microstructures

Zhao

Lim

Sawyer

et al. 2007

Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A number of techniques have been developed to monitor contractile function in isolated cardiac myocytes. While invaluable observations have been gained from these methodologies in understanding the contractile processes of the heart, they are invariably limited by their in vitro conditions. The present challenge is to develop innovative assays to mimic the in vivo milieu so as to allow a more physiological assessment of cardiac myocyte contractile forces. Here we demonstrate the use of a silicone elastomer, poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), to simultaneously orient adult cardiac myocytes in primary culture and measure the cellular forces in a three-dimensional substrate. The realignment of adult cardiac myocytes in long-term culture (7 days) was achieved due to directional reassembly of the myofibrils along the parallel polymeric sidewalls. The cellular mechanical forces were recorded in situ by observing the deformation of the micropillars embedded in the substrate. By coupling the cellular mechanical force measurements with on-chip cell orientation, this novel assay is expected to provide a means of a more physiological assessment of single cardiac myocyte contractile function and may facilitate the future development of in vitro assembled functional cardiac tissue.

show abstract

Adaptation of flexible polymer fabrication to cellular mechanics study

Cited by 26 publications

References 7 publications

Viscoelastic Characterization and Modeling of Polymer Transducers for Biological Applications

Viscoelastic Characterization and Modeling of Polymer Transducers for Biological Applications

Note: Mechanical study of micromachined polydimethylsiloxane elastic microposts

Simultaneous orientation and cellular force measurements in adult cardiac myocytes using three‐dimensional polymeric microstructures

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About