Atomic Force Microscopy Characterization of Polyacrylamide Substrate for Traction Force Application

Abstract

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) technology has ushered researchers to directly observe surface topology and the substrate mechanical properties using specialized probe. AFM is one of the microscopic techniques with the highest lateral resolution which can be employed in air or even in liquids. In this experiment, we characterized the local elastic properties of the polyacrylamide (PA) hydrogel using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). PA consists of huge units of an organic acrylamide monomers which can be saturated to form a highly water-swollen hydrogel. The hydrogel offers tunable density with a high degree of pliability which depends of its applications. Such applications of PA hydrogel can be in cell substrate studies and measurement of cell-generated forces. Our results with AFM measurement yielded force-distance curves were used to determine the elastic behaviour of the polyacrylamide (PA) hydrogel. Analysis has shown that 15% w/v PA hydrogel concentration has Young’s modulus, Yav=1608.9 ± 1.3 kPa (n=8) and transverse stiffness, Kav=88.7 ± 9.7 μN/nm (n=8) at Thus, elasticity measurements has provided useful insights for the future experiment on traction force microscopy with amoeboid organism.