Measuring the biomechanical properties of the actin in MCF-7 breast cancer cell with a combined system of AFM and SIM

Biomechanics of cell plays an important role in the behavior and development of diseases, which has a profound influence on the health, structural integrity, and function of cells. In this study, we proposed a method to assess the biomechanical properties in single breast cancer cell line MCF-7 by combining structured illumination microscopy (SIM) with atomic force microscopy (AFM). High resolution optical image of actin in MCF-7 cell and its elastography were obtained. The result shows that the quantitative resolution was improved by SIM, with 490 nm of conventional fluorescence image and 285 nm of reconstructed SIM image, which could give a precise location for AFM measurement. The elasticity of actin is about in the range of 10~1000 kPa. The proposed methods will be helpful in the understanding and clinical diagnosis of diseases at single cell level.