Resumo

HIGUITA CASTRO, Natalia  e  HANSFORD, Derek J. MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF CELLS AND TISSUES AT THE MICRO SCALE. Rev. ing. biomed. [online]. 2008, vol.2, n.3, pp.56-64. ISSN 1909-9762.

Cell-substrate interactions are relevant for a number of biological and clinical applications e.g. to determine the effectiveness of medical implants. Cells are natural transducers that respond to and sense signals originating in their microenvironment. One important cell signaling mechanism is known as chemo-mechanical transduction. This refers to the use of external mechanical cues to initiate internal biochemical cellular processes and vice versa. One key factor to characterize and understand these interactions is the evaluation of the mechanical forces present at the cell-substrate interface. Recent advances in the micro and nanotechnology fields have allowed the development of new tools for the measurement of cellular and tissue forces. These tools have provided a means to study extremely low cellular and subcellular forces (pN-µN) as well as detailed small-scale tissue mechanics. This paper will review some of the most significant approaches to characterize the mechanical properties of cells and tissues at the micro-scale. Material properties, device fabrication, and design issues will be discussed.

Palavras-chave : Cell-substrate interactions; Cellular mechanics; Mechanotransduction; Microdevice; Micro-scale.

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