Comparison of cell mechanical measurements provided by Atomic ForceMicroscopy (AFM) and Micropipette Aspiration (MPA)

Abstract

A comparative analysis of T-lymphocyte mechanical data obtained from Micropipette Aspiration (MPA) andAtomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is presented. Results obtained byfitting the experimental data to simple Hertzand Theret models led to non-Gaussian distributions and significantly different values of the elastic moduliobtained by both techniques. The use of more refined models, taking into account thefinite size of cells (sim-plified double contact and Zhou models) reduces the differences in the values calculated for the elastic moduli.Several possible sources for the discrepancy between the techniques are considered. The analysis suggests thatthe local nature of AFM measurements compared with the more general character of MPA measurementsprobably contributed to the differences observed.