Liang Wenfeng, Shi Haohao, Yang Xieliu, Wang Junhai, Yang Wenguang, Zhang Hemin, Liu Lianqing
School of Mechanical Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang, 110168, China.
School of Electromechanical and Automotive Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai 264005, China.
Soft Matter. 2020 Sep 30. doi: 10.1039/d0sm01106a.
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has found a wide range of bio-applications in the past few decades due to its ability to measure biological samples in natural environments at a high spatial resolution. AFM has become a key platform in biomedical, bioengineering and drug research fields, enabling mechanical and morphological characterization of live biological systems. Hence, we provide a comprehensive review on recent advances in the use of AFM for characterizing the biomechanical properties of multi-scale biological samples, ranging from molecule, cell to tissue levels. First, we present the fundamental principles of AFM and two AFM-based models for the characterization of biomechanical properties of biological samples, covering key AFM devices and AFM bioimaging as well as theoretical models for characterizing the elasticity and viscosity of biomaterials. Then, we elaborate on a series of new experimental findings through analysis of biomechanics. Finally, we discuss the future directions and challenges. It is envisioned that the AFM technique will enable many remarkable discoveries, and will have far-reaching impacts on bio-related studies and applications in the future.
在过去几十年中，原子力显微镜（AFM）因其能够在自然环境中以高空间分辨率测量生物样品，从而在生物领域得到了广泛应用。AFM已成为生物医学、生物工程和药物研究领域的关键平台，可对活生物系统进行力学和形态学表征。因此，我们对AFM在表征多尺度生物样品（从分子、细胞到组织水平）生物力学特性方面的最新进展进行了全面综述。首先，我们介绍了AFM的基本原理以及基于AFM的两种用于表征生物样品生物力学特性的模型，涵盖了关键的AFM设备、AFM生物成像以及用于表征生物材料弹性和粘度的理论模型。然后，我们通过生物力学分析阐述了一系列新的实验发现。最后，我们讨论了未来的方向和挑战。可以预见，AFM技术将带来许多重大发现，并将对未来的生物相关研究和应用产生深远影响。
