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Liu S, Han Y, Kong L, Wang G, Ye Z. Atomic force microscopy in disease-related studies: Exploring tissue and cell mechanics. Microsc Res Tech 2024; 87:660-684. [PMID: 38063315 DOI: 10.1002/jemt.24471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2023] [Revised: 10/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/26/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Despite significant progress in human medicine, certain diseases remain challenging to promptly diagnose and treat. Hence, the imperative lies in the development of more exhaustive criteria and tools. Tissue and cellular mechanics exhibit distinctive traits in both normal and pathological states, suggesting that "force" represents a promising and distinctive target for disease diagnosis and treatment. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) holds great promise as a prospective clinical medical device due to its capability to concurrently assess surface morphology and mechanical characteristics of biological specimens within a physiological setting. This review presents a comprehensive examination of the operational principles of AFM and diverse mechanical models, focusing on its applications in investigating tissue and cellular mechanics associated with prevalent diseases. The findings from these studies lay a solid groundwork for potential clinical implementations of AFM. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: By examining the surface morphology and assessing tissue and cellular mechanics of biological specimens in a physiological setting, AFM shows promise as a clinical device to diagnose and treat challenging diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuaiyuan Liu
- Key Laboratory for Biorheological Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Vascular Implants, Bioengineering College of Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yibo Han
- Key Laboratory for Biorheological Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Vascular Implants, Bioengineering College of Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
| | - Lingwen Kong
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Central Hospital of Chongqing University, Chongqing Emergency Medical Center, Chongqing, China
| | - Guixue Wang
- Key Laboratory for Biorheological Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Vascular Implants, Bioengineering College of Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
- JinFeng Laboratory, Chongqing, China
| | - Zhiyi Ye
- Key Laboratory for Biorheological Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Vascular Implants, Bioengineering College of Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
- JinFeng Laboratory, Chongqing, China
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Morr AS, Nowicki M, Bertalan G, Vieira Silva R, Infante Duarte C, Koch SP, Boehm-Sturm P, Krügel U, Braun J, Steiner B, Käs JA, Fuhs T, Sack I. Mechanical properties of murine hippocampal subregions investigated by atomic force microscopy and in vivo magnetic resonance elastography. Sci Rep 2022; 12:16723. [PMID: 36202964 PMCID: PMC9537158 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21105-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The hippocampus is a very heterogeneous brain structure with different mechanical properties reflecting its functional variety. In particular, adult neurogenesis in rodent hippocampus has been associated with specific viscoelastic properties in vivo and ex vivo. Here, we study the microscopic mechanical properties of hippocampal subregions using ex vivo atomic force microscopy (AFM) in correlation with the expression of GFP in presence of the nestin promoter, providing a marker of neurogenic activity. We further use magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to investigate whether in vivo mechanical properties reveal similar spatial patterns, however, on a much coarser scale. AFM showed that tissue stiffness increases with increasing distance from the subgranular zone (p = 0.0069), and that stiffness is 39% lower in GFP than non-GFP regions (p = 0.0004). Consistently, MRE showed that dentate gyrus is, on average, softer than Ammon´s horn (shear wave speed = 3.2 ± 0.2 m/s versus 4.4 ± 0.3 m/s, p = 0.01) with another 3.4% decrease towards the subgranular zone (p = 0.0001). The marked reduction in stiffness measured by AFM in areas of high neurogenic activity is consistent with softer MRE values, indicating the sensitivity of macroscopic mechanical properties in vivo to micromechanical structures as formed by the neurogenic niche of the hippocampus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna S Morr
- Department of Radiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marcin Nowicki
- Institute of Anatomy, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Gergely Bertalan
- Department of Radiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany
| | - Rafaela Vieira Silva
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Carmen Infante Duarte
- Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) and Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefan Paul Koch
- Department of Experimental Neurology and Center for Stroke Research, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence and Charité Core Facility 7T Experimental MRIs, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Philipp Boehm-Sturm
- Department of Experimental Neurology and Center for Stroke Research, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence and Charité Core Facility 7T Experimental MRIs, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ute Krügel
- Rudolf Boehm Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jürgen Braun
- Institute of Medical Informatics, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Barbara Steiner
- Clinic for Neurology and Experimental Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Josef A Käs
- Section of Soft Matter Physics, Peter Debye Institute for Soft Matter Physics, Faculty of Physics and Geosciences, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Thomas Fuhs
- Section of Soft Matter Physics, Peter Debye Institute for Soft Matter Physics, Faculty of Physics and Geosciences, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ingolf Sack
- Department of Radiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany.
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Antonovaite N, Hulshof LA, Huffels CFM, Hol EM, Wadman WJ, Iannuzzi D. Mechanical alterations of the hippocampus in the APP/PS1 Alzheimer's disease mouse model. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 2021; 122:104697. [PMID: 34271406 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2021.104697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2020] [Revised: 06/26/2021] [Accepted: 07/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
There is increasing evidence of altered tissue mechanics in neurodegeneration. However, due to difficulties in mechanical testing procedures and the complexity of the brain, there is still little consensus on the role of mechanics in the onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. In the case of Alzheimer's disease (AD), magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) studies have indicated viscoelastic differences in the brain tissue of AD patients and healthy controls. However, there is a lack of viscoelastic data from contact mechanical testing at higher spatial resolution. Therefore, we report viscoelastic maps of the hippocampus obtained by a dynamic indentation on brain slices from the APP/PS1 mouse model where individual brain regions are resolved. A comparison of viscoelastic parameters shows that regions in the hippocampus of the APP/PS1 mice are significantly stiffer than wild-type (WT) mice and have increased viscous dissipation. Furthermore, indentation mapping at the cellular scale directly on the plaques and their surroundings did not show local alterations in stiffness although overall mechanical heterogeneity of the tissue was high (SD∼40%).
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Affiliation(s)
- Nelda Antonovaite
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and LaserLaB, VU Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Lianne A Hulshof
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Brain Center, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Christiaan F M Huffels
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Brain Center, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Elly M Hol
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Brain Center, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Wytse J Wadman
- Center for Neuroscience, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Davide Iannuzzi
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and LaserLaB, VU Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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