Rajagopalan Jagannathan, Saif M Taher A
Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 W Green Street Urbana IL -61801 USA
J Micromech Microeng. 2011 Mar;21(5):54002-54012. doi: 10.1088/0960-1317/21/5/054002.
Forces generated by cells play a vital role in many cellular processes like cell spreading, motility, differentiation and apoptosis. Understanding the mechanics of single cells is essential to delineate the link between cellular force generation/sensing and function. MEMS sensors, because of their small size and fine force/displacement resolution, are ideal for force and displacement sensing at the single cell level. In addition, the amenability of MEMS sensors to batch fabrication methods allows the study of large cell populations simultaneously, leading to robust statistical studies. In this review, we discuss various microsystems used for studying cell mechanics and the insights on cell mechanical behavior that have resulted from their use. The advantages and limitations of these microsystems for biological studies are also outlined.
细胞产生的力在许多细胞过程中起着至关重要的作用，如细胞铺展、运动、分化和凋亡。了解单细胞的力学特性对于阐明细胞力产生/感知与功能之间的联系至关重要。微机电系统（MEMS）传感器由于其尺寸小和力/位移分辨率高，是单细胞水平上力和位移传感的理想选择。此外，MEMS传感器适用于批量制造方法，这使得能够同时研究大量细胞群体，从而进行可靠的统计研究。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了用于研究细胞力学的各种微系统以及使用这些微系统所获得的关于细胞力学行为的见解。还概述了这些微系统在生物学研究中的优点和局限性。
