Mechanical Properties and Electrical Behavior of Neuroblastoma Cells Characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy

As a model of neurodegenerative disease, the study on SH-SY5Y cells is of great significance due to the complexity of cause and difficulty in cure. Based on this reality, we studied the influence of culture duration on the morphology and mechanical properties of living SH-SY5Y cells by atomic force microscopy (AFM). A comparative analysis was made to characterize the cell size and tipcell adhesion, and their increased trends with the increase of cell culture duration were obtained, providing a guideline for the physiological characteristics of the cells. As the culture time increased from 24 h to 48 h, the measured average height and width of cells were increased by 0.59 mu m and 1.38 mu m, respectively. As for cell elasticity, statistical analysis showed that the difference between different parts of the cell was obvious. Additionally, the electrophysiological characteristic as an important indicator for measuring the functional activities of SH-SY5Y cells was investigated. Here, a homemade conductive atomic force microscope (C-AFM) provided an effective way for membrane potential recordings. It was successfully used to study the real-time responses of living SH-SY5Y cells to mechanical insertions, and a membrane potential with an amplitude of -0.101 V was obtained without losing cell viability.