Nature Cell Biology 19, 864–872
Nils M. Kronenberg, Philipp Liehm, Anja Steude, Johanna A. Knipper, Jessica G. Borger, Giuliano Scarcelli, Kristian Franze, Simon J. Powis & Malte C. Gather (2017)
This publication presents a novel, robust, and exceptionally precise microscopy method that creates images of the minute forces living cells apply as they grow, divide and migrate. The so-called elastic resonator interference stress microscopy (ERISM) analyzes interference patterns to measure the deformation of an optical micro-cavity that consists of a soft elastomer sandwiched between two gold layers.
In this study, a Nanosurf Flex-Bio system was used to perform indentation and lateral force measurements in order to determine the elastic properties of the micro-cavities, enabling the authors to calculate stress maps and the exerted cellular force from the displacement map.
