Mechanical properties of mammalian single smooth muscle cells I. A low cost large range microforce transducer

Abstract

A transducer has been developed for measuring the minute forces generated during isometric contractions (1.0-10.0 microN) of single smooth muscle cells from the pig urinary bladder and the human uterus. In addition to its high sensitivity, resolution and stability (100 mV microN-1, and less than 0.1 microN and less than 2.0 microN h-1), the transducer features a very wide range (100-140 microN) with good linearity, enabling measurement of contractions as well as passive force-length characteristics within one uninterrupted measurement session. Since the transducer features an independent and interchangeable force to displacement conversion system, different force ranges can be realized by inserting force conversion systems with different compliances.

Tensile properties of vascular smooth muscle cells: Bridging vascular and cellular biomechanics

“…However, a calibration is necessary every time the pipette is changed. To overcome this problem, tensile testers with handmade load cells have also been proposed (Glerum and Van Mastrigt, 1990;Miyazaki et al, 2000). SMCs are also highly viscous, and a stress relaxation test is useful to measure their viscoelasticity, in which the cell length needs to be kept precisely constant.…”

Mechanical properties of mammalian single smooth muscle cells II. Evaluation of a modified technique for attachment of cells to the measurement apparatus

“…Cells were attached between a fixed micro-pipette mounted to a M/irzhauser three-dimensional electromechanical micromanipulator (type STM 3), fixed onto the microscope object table, and a similar pipette connected fo an opto-mechanical micro force transducer, developed in our own laboratory, with a sensitivity of I0 #N V-2, a linear range of q-140/iN, a resolution better than 0.1 #N and a long terre drift of approximately 2 #N h -~ (Glerum & Van Mastrigt, 1990). This transducer was mounted on a specially designed vertical movement stage connected directly fo the side of the cell incubator.…”