基于AFM的淋巴瘤细胞成像及其机械特性测定

原子力显微镜(AFM)以其独特的成像方式, 为在细胞水平和分子水平获取细胞生理状态的新认识提供了技术手段. 研究了近生理环境下基于AFM的Burkitt淋巴瘤(Burkitt’s lymphoma, BL)细胞成像及其机械特性的测定, 探索了基于多聚赖氨酸的悬浮细胞固定方法, 并在此基础上实现了AFM对BL细胞表面形貌及其超微结构的高分辨率成像; 对活体BL细胞以及戊二醛固定后的BL细胞的机械特性进行了测定, 验证了Hertz模型对BL细胞机械特性描述的有效性, 同时揭示了戊二醛的引入将导致BL细胞硬度的显著增加. 实验结果为近生理环境下悬浮细胞的高分辨率形貌表征和机械特性测定提供了技术思路和实验方法, 同时为在单细胞尺度上探索可用于疾病早期快速诊断和个性化治疗的新生物标记奠定基础.

Imaging and measuring the mechanical properties of lymphoma cells using atomic force microscopy

Because of its particular imaging mode, atomic force microscope (AFM) provides a new technology to help understand physiological activities at cellular and molecular levels. In the present study, AFM was used to image the morphology and measure the mechanical properties of Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) cells under near-physiological conditions. Poly-L-lysine was used to immobilize a suspension of BL cells, and the morphology and ultrastructure of BL cells were acquired with a high resolution using AFM. The mechanical properties of live BL cells and glutaraldehyde-fixed BL cells were also measured, and the efficiency of the Hertz model was then calculated. We demonstrate that BL cells become firm after being fixed with glutaraldehyde. The results provide an effective method for characterizing the morphology of suspended cells under near-physiological conditions, and lay the foundation for exploring novel biomarkers at the cellular level for the early and rapid diagnosis and the personalized treatment of diseases.