Scanning probe investigation of cellular and subcellular biomechanics

The introduction of the atomic force microscope (AFM) is often regarded as one of the most important milestones in fields of nanoscience, nanotechnology, and surface science. AFMs enabled new possibilities in imaging and probing surface, interfacial, mechanical, and chemical properties of soft and biological materials with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. Specific interactions, which form the fundamental character of most biological materials, have been probed using bioconjugated AFM cantilevers as force transducers. These investigations provide new insights that are often lost and inaccessible in conventional ensemble measurements. In this chapter, we briefly review AFM-based surface force spectroscopy (SFS) as applied to cellular and subcellular components. Following a brief introduction to SFS, we highlight several examples from recent literature, where AFMs provide new insight into receptor-ligand, cell-cell, and cell-surface interactions. We also briefly discuss recent reports that demonstrate the application of AFM-based nanomechanical measurements of individual cells for cancer detection.