日本研究人员开发出了能测量细胞间黏合力的技术，利用这一技术将有助于了解癌细胞的转移机制，检测人工培育的组织细胞是否正常黏合在一起。
奈良尖端科学技术研究生院和近畿大学的研究小组，日前在新一期美国《国家科学院学报》网络版上报告说，由于细胞极其微小、脆弱且紧密黏合在一起，所以将细胞分离开并测量它们之间的黏合力一直非常困难。
研究人员利用脉冲极短、瞬时功率超高的飞秒激光照射有细胞的培养液，产生冲击波，然后利用能够发现细微结构的原子力显微镜，观测冲击波并换算成力。通过变换激光的强度，测试多大强度的冲击波能够将细胞分离开，就可以测量出细胞间的黏合力有多大。
报告指出，有研究者认为，癌细胞是通过紧密附着在血管内侧的细胞上而转移的，因此这一技术将有助于了解癌细胞的转移机制，此外还可用该技术检测以干细胞培育出的组织细胞是否正常黏合在一起。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原文出处：
PNAS doi: 10.1073/pnas.1006847108
Noncontact estimation of intercellular breaking force using a femtosecond laser impulse quantified by atomic force microscopy
Yoichiroh Hosokawaa,1, Man Hagiyamab, Takanori Iinoa, Yoshinori Murakamib, and Akihiko Itoc,1
Abstract
When a femtosecond laser pulse (fsLP) is focused through an objective lens into a culture medium, an impulsive force (fsLP-IF) is generated that propagates from the laser focal point (Of) in a micron-sized space. This force can detach individual adherent cells without causing considerable cell damage. In this study, an fsLP-IF was reflected in the vibratory movement of an atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilever. Based on the magnitude of the vibration and the geometrical relationship between Of and the cantilever, the fsLP-IF generated at Of was calculated as a unit of impulse [N-s]. This impulsive force broke adhesion molecule-mediated intercellular interactions in a manner that depended on the adhesion strength that was estimated by the cell aggregation assay. The force also broke the interactions between streptavidin-coated microspheres and a biotin-coated substrate with a measurement error of approximately 7%. These results suggest that fsLP-IF can be used to break intermolecular and intercellular interactions and estimate the adhesion strength. The fsLP-IF was used to break intercellular contacts in two biologically relevant cultures: a coculture of leukocytes seeded over on an endothelial cell monolayer, and a polarized monolayer culture of epithelial cells. The impulses needed to break leukocyte–endothelial and interepithelial interactions, which were calculated based on the geometrical relationship between Of and the adhesive interface, were on the order of 10-13 and 10-12 N-s, respectively. When the total impulse at Of is well-defined, fsLP-IF can be used to estimate the force required to break intercellular adhesions in a noncontact manner under biologically relevant conditions.
