Quantifying cellular forces: Practical considerations of traction force microscopy for dermal fibroblasts.
Abigail De La PenaMarah MukhtarRyosuke YokosawaSantiago CarrasquillaChelsey S SimmonsPublished in: Experimental dermatology (2020)
Traction force microscopy (TFM) is a well-established technique traditionally used by biophysicists to quantify the forces adherent biological cells exert on their microenvironment. As image processing software becomes increasingly user-friendly, TFM is being adopted by broader audiences to quantify contractility of (myo)fibroblasts. While many technical reviews of TFM's computational mechanics are available, this review focuses on practical experimental considerations for dermatology researchers new to cell mechanics and TFM who may wish to implement a higher throughput and less expensive alternative to collagen compaction assays. Here, we describe implementation of experimental methods, analysis using open-source software and troubleshooting of common issues to enable researchers to leverage TFM for their investigations into skin fibroblasts.
Keyphrases
- single molecule
- high throughput
- extracellular matrix
- high resolution
- wound healing
- induced apoptosis
- optical coherence tomography
- primary care
- stem cells
- high speed
- cell cycle arrest
- healthcare
- randomized controlled trial
- cell death
- quality improvement
- smooth muscle
- machine learning
- signaling pathway
- cell proliferation
- meta analyses
- mesenchymal stem cells
- mass spectrometry
- tissue engineering