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MEMS measurements of single cell stiffness decay due to cyclic mechanical loading

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Abstract

The goal of this study was to measure the mechanical stiffness of individual cells and to observe changes due to the application of repeated cell mechanical loads. 28 single baker’s yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were fatigue tested and had their stiffness measured during repetitive loading cycles performed by a MEMS squeezer in aqueous media. Electrothermal micro-actuators compressed individual cells against a reference back spring; cell and spring motions were measured using a FFT image analysis technique with ~10 nm resolution. Cell stiffness was calculated based on measurements of cell elongation vs. applied force which resulted in stiffness values in the 2–10 N/m range. The effect of increased force was studied for cells mechanically cycled 37 times. Cell stiffness decreased as the force and the cycle number increased. After 37 loading cycles (~4 min), forces of 0.24, 0.29, 0.31, and 0.33 μN caused stiffness drops of 5%, 13%, 31% and 41% respectively. Cells force was then set to 0.29 μN and cells were tested over longer runs of 118 and 268 cycles. After 118 cycles (~12 min) cells experienced an average stiffness drop of 68%. After 268 cycles (~25 min) cells had a stiffness drop of 77%, and appeared to reach a stiffness plateau of 20–25% of the initial stiffness after approximately 200 cycles.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the NSERC - Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and fabrication services were obtained through CMC - Canadian Microsystems Corporation. B. Barazani is funded by the Brazilian Federal Entity: National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada

    Bruno Barazani & Ted Hubbard

  2. Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Department, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717-3800, USA

    Stephan Warnat

  3. Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611-0370, USA

    Andrew J. MacIntosh

Authors
  1. Bruno Barazani
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  2. Stephan Warnat
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  3. Andrew J. MacIntosh
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  4. Ted Hubbard
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ted Hubbard.

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Appendix

Appendix

Table 1 Measured cell stiffness over the cycles for each cell tested up to 37 cycles
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Table 2 Measured stiffness of cells tested up to 118 cycles
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Table 3 Measured stiffness of cells tested up to 268 cycles
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Barazani, B., Warnat, S., MacIntosh, A.J. et al. MEMS measurements of single cell stiffness decay due to cyclic mechanical loading. Biomed Microdevices 19, 77 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-017-0219-7

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