Quantification of Cell Adhesion Force with Atomic Force Microscope

Abstract

Cell adhesion to cells or substrates is the basis for cell colonization and survival. Based on atomic force microscope (AFM), a single probe was used to quantitatively measure the adhesion of different cell types. The self-made pneumatic control system produces negative pressure to fix the cells, replacing the traditional chemical fixation method, reducing the fixation time from about 30 min to a few seconds, and a single probe can test about 15 cells, greatly improving single-cell force spectroscopy test speed. As a result, statistical data can be quickly recorded, the range of cells tested can be expanded, and the physiological activity of the cells during the test is preserved. In this paper, we studied the adhesion of three different mammalian cells to polystyrene substrates, and indicated that the adhesion forces depend on the probe retraction speed and the contact time: the adhesion forces are proportional to the logarithm of the probe retraction speed and increase with increasing contact time.