Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2024;2805:171-186. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3854-5_12.
Biophysical factors, including changes in mechanical stiffness, have been shown to influence the morphogenesis of developing organs. There is a lack of experimental techniques, however, that can probe the mechanical properties of embryonic tissues-especially those which are not mechanically or optically accessible, such as the visceral organs of the developing mouse embryo. Here, using the embryonic kidney as a model system, we describe a method to use microindentation to quantify tissue-level regional differences in the mechanical properties of an embryonic organ. This technique is generalizable and can be used to quantify patterns of tissue stiffness within other developing organ systems. Going forward, these data will enable new experimental studies of the role of biophysical cues during organogenesis.
生物物理因素，包括机械硬度的变化，已被证明会影响发育器官的形态发生。然而，目前缺乏能够探测胚胎组织机械特性的实验技术——特别是那些在机械或光学上无法探测的组织，例如发育中老鼠胚胎的内脏器官。在这里，我们使用胚胎肾脏作为模型系统，描述了一种使用微压痕来量化胚胎器官组织水平区域机械特性差异的方法。该技术具有通用性，可以用于量化其他发育器官系统中组织硬度的模式。这些数据将使未来能够对器官发生过程中的生物物理线索的作用进行新的实验研究。
