Local cell stiffness measurement using probes deformation

In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a new method for local cell stiffness measurement using multiple probes system. Thin glass pipettes were employed to measure the stiffness of cells on a general culture dish. The thin micropipettes were prepared and their spring constant was measured using the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) cantilever before stiffness measurement. The deformation of the pipette tips and the cell were observed under an optical microscope. The cell stiffness was calculated from the deformations based on the Hooke's low. The measurement results show that the myoblast C2C12 cell on a glass substrate has the stiffness around 0.1 N/m. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method can conduct the time-lapse cell stiffness measurement at multiple points simultaneously.