Method for measuring Young's modulus of cells using a cell compression microdevice

The importance of cell mechanical properties is apparent in many physiological processes; measuring these properties can therefore provide insight into the behavior of cells and tissues in human disease. Here, we describe a method of evaluating cellular deformation of cells by using a cell compression microdevice. The method comprises two steps: 1) observation and evaluation of cell deformation behavior during compression using the microdevice and 2) theoretical calculation of cellular deformation. We constructed the microdevice by stacking two layers of self-adhesive polydimethylsiloxane on a glass plate. The first layer consisted of microchannels, a cell culture chamber, and a diaphragm on the chamber for applying pressure to cells; the second layer consisted of cell inlet ports and a pressure inlet port. The microdevice was made of transparent materials, which permitted in situ monitoring of cellular behavior by optical microscopy. The microdevice was designed to control the magnitude of the pressure applied to cells. We measured the cell compressive strain to evaluate the Young's modulus; the measured values ranged from 3.5 to 4.2 kPa. These results demonstrate that our microdevice is useful for measuring and calculating the mechanical properties of cells under strain.