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Elastic and Viscoelastic Characterization of Mouse Oocytes Using Micropipette Indentation

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Abstract

This paper reports the first quantitative comparison study of elastic and viscoelastic properties of oocytes from young and aged mice. A force measurement technique, including a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) cell holding device and a sub-pixel computer vision tracking algorithm, is utilized for measuring forces applied to an oocyte and resultant cell deformations in real time during oocyte manipulation. To characterize elastic and viscoelastic properties of the oocytes, a stress-relaxation indentation test is performed. A two-step, large-deformation mechanical model is developed to extract the mechanical properties of the oocytes from the measured force–deformation data. The experimental results demonstrate that the aged oocytes are significantly softer (instantaneous modulus: 2.2 vs. 5.2 kPa in young oocytes) but more viscous (relaxation time: 4.1 vs. 2.3 s in young oocytes) than the young oocytes.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Roxanne Fernandes, Andrea Jurisicova, and Robert F. Casper from Toronto Mount Sinai Hospital for their assistance on mouse oocyte preparation. XY is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the McGill University. YS is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canada Research Chairs Program. JS, ZZ and KTW are supported by the US National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Xinyu Liu

  2. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Jiayi Shi, Zong Zong & Kai-Tak Wan

  3. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Yu Sun

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  1. Xinyu Liu
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  2. Jiayi Shi
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  3. Zong Zong
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  4. Kai-Tak Wan
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Correspondence to Xinyu Liu, Kai-Tak Wan or Yu Sun.

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Associate Editor Tingrui Pan oversaw the review of this article.

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Liu, X., Shi, J., Zong, Z. et al. Elastic and Viscoelastic Characterization of Mouse Oocytes Using Micropipette Indentation. Ann Biomed Eng 40, 2122–2130 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-012-0595-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-012-0595-3

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