Micropipette Aspiration Package

Applications of Micropipette Aspiration Package

Microaspiration has been used to manipulate and probe living materials for decades. The contribution of this method to our modern understanding of cell and tissue mechanics is invaluable.

Cell and tissue mechanical properties are paramount in controlling morphogenesis. Microaspiration techniques allow measuring the absolute values of mechanical properties in space and time in vivo. 

At the cellular scale, microaspiration allows the mapping in space and time of surface tensions of individual interfaces within a tissue to understand the forces shaping it. At the tissue scale, microaspiration can be used to measure macroscopic mechanical properties such as viscoelasticity and tissue surface tension that regulate the dynamics of tissue deformation. Here are several applications that can be implemented in your laboratory using Fluigent’s pumping technology and expertise.

• Cell mechanical properties measurement: Many biological processes are characterized by changes in cell stiffness: cells entering mitosis [1], tumor cells transitioning to premalignant stage [2], red blood cells infected with malaria [3]… These changes occur at cell scale and require precise measurement to accurately quantify cell stiffness. A Dual pipette aspiration assay is a tool to evaluate the relative contribution of cell-cell tension versus cell-medium tension at the cell-cell interface by separating contacting cells (Maitre et al Sciences 2012).

• Single cell manipulation: Micropipette aspiration allows spatial positioning of single cells or clusters of cells. Single cell positioning is necessary for single cell analysis or clonal cell line development.

• Tension heterogeneity within tissue: Evaluating cell tension at the single cell level allows for mapping of tensions within a tissue. It is particularly useful to investigate the forces driving tissue morphogenesis or embryogenesis ( Maitre et al, 2016, Nature)
• In vitro diagnostic: Our micropipette aspiration package allows the measurement of stiffness at cellular resolution, a powerful tool for detecting anomalous behavior that is not accessible or detectable under the microscope. As an example, mechanical properties can predict the viability of embryos within hours after fertilization even though viable and non-viable embryos are morphologically indistinguishable at this stage [4]

Pressure are the gold standard for microaspiration

Micropipette aspiration requires high control over the forces applied to cells. A fast response time is necessary as transitional states should be minimized.

The microaspiration technique relies on the accurate calibration of the aspiration pressure. Only Fluigent’s micropipette aspiration package can provide products with pressure ranges of 0 – (+/-) 25 mbar, or 0 – (+/-) 69 mbar, to apply small pressure increments (0.007 mbar) at low pressure (0.1 -10 mbar).

The Flow EZ™ pressure controllers are particularly suited as this method requires applying forces ranging from 10pN to 1nN accurately.

Perform this application with high precision using our products. 

References

[1] Théry M, Bornens M, Get round and stiff. 2008, HFSP J, 2(2):65-71.

[2] Tavares S et al, actin stress fiber organization promotes cell stiffening and proliferation of pre-invasive breast cancer cells. 2017, Nat Commun. 8:15237.

[3] Guo Q et al, Microfluidic biomechanical assay for red blood cells parasitized by Plasmodium falciparum. 2012, Lab Chip; 12(6):1143-50.

[4] Yanez LZ et al, human oocyte developmental potential is predicted by mechanical properties within hours after fertilization, 2016, Nat Commun. 7:10809