Traction Force Microscopy: A tool for quantifying cell-matrix interaction

YANINA D ÁLVAREZ; NAHUEL TARKOWSKI; ALEJANDRO TEVEZ; LORENA SIGAUT; MICAELA BIANCHI; FERNANDO STEFANI; LÍA ISABEL PIETRASANTA

Congreso; XLII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Biofísica; 2013

Sociedad Argentina de Biofísica

Cell exert traction forces on the extracellular matrix (ECM) to which they are adhered through the formation of focal adhesion (FAs)1. Spatial-temporal regulation of traction forces is crucial in cell adhesion, migration, cellular division and remodeling of the ECM. For quantitative measurements of the direction and magnitude of cellular traction force are required biophysical techniques. Traction Force Microscopy (TFM)2 is a unique tool to assess the changes in the average traction force exerted by individual cells. TFM utilizes elastic substrates and optical microscopy to track substrate surface displacements through the spatial correlation of fluorescent particles embedded in the substrate. In this work, we present the results obtained for epithelial mammalian living cells (HC11) cultured on fibronectin-coated polyacrylamide gel sustrates. We were able to record cell-induced substrate displacements by using a digital image correlation algorithm3, which allowed us to quantify traction forces.