Using Gold Nanorods to Probe Cell-Induced Collagen Deformation

John W. Stone,† Patrick N. Sisco,† Edie C. Goldsmith,‡ Sarah C. Baxter,§ and Catherine J. Murphy*†
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and Anatomy, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia, South Carolina 29208
Nano Lett., 2007, 7 (1), pp 116–119
DOI: 10.1021/nl062248d
Publication Date (Web): December 6, 2006
Copyright © 2007 American Chemical Society
†

 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina.

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‡

 Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and Anatomy, University of South Carolina School of Medicine.

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§

 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Carolina.

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*

 To whom correspondence should be addressed:  Murphy@ mail.chem.sc.edu.

Abstract

Abstract Image

In biological tissue, complex mechanisms of cellular response are closely linked to the mechanical environment that cells experience. The key to understanding these mechanisms may lie in measurement of local mechanical fields near living cells and between cells. We have developed a novel optical measurement technique which combines the light elastically scattered from gold nanorods with digital image analysis to track local deformations that occur in vitro between cells, in real time, under darkfield optical microscopy. We find that measurable tension and compression exist in the intercellular matrix at the length scale of micrometers, as the cells assess, adapt, and rearrange their environment.

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History

  • Published In Issue January 10, 2007
  • Received September 23, 2006
    Revised Manuscript Received November 19, 2006

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