Measuring cell-generated forces: a guide to the available tools.
review · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 27123817.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/nmeth.3834 and PMC identifier 5474291.
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Abstract
Forces generated by cells are critical regulators of cell adhesion, signaling, and function, and they are also essential drivers in the morphogenetic events of development. Over the past 20 years, several methods have been developed to measure these forces. However, despite recent substantial interest in understanding the contribution of these forces in biology, implementation and adoption of the developed methods by the broader biological community remain challenging because of the inherently multidisciplinary expertise required to conduct and interpret the measurements. In this review, we introduce the established methods and highlight the technical challenges associated with implementing each technique in a biological laboratory.
Medical subject headings
- Biomechanical Phenomena
- Biophysical Phenomena
- Cell Adhesion
- Extracellular Matrix
- Models, Biological