Research team at the University of Göttingen develops method for recognizing cell properties
Checking whether an avocado is hard or soft by looking at it? This would require recognizing how the plant cells behave behind the skin. The same applies to all other cells on our planet: Despite more than 100 years of intensive research, many of their properties remain hidden inside the cell. Researchers at the University of Göttingen describe in their recent publication in Nature Materials a new approach that can determine the particularly difficult-to-detect mechanical properties of the cell interior by taking a closer look.
In order to make statements about living cells, the researchers applied the method to the inside of living cells. “As our knowledge of the inside of cells is still limited, it was initially unclear whether the MBR could also be used here. When I saw the resulting curves, I could hardly believe my eyes, because the inside of cells could be described very precisely using the approaches we had originally worked out for much simpler situations,” marvels MBExC member Professor Timo Betz from the Third Institute of Physics, head of the experiments.
Link to the press release
A view into the cell using an optical laser trap: it localizes microscopic particles in order to draw conclusions about their random trembling movement. A new approach developed by the Göttingen researchers makes it possible to deduce from these movements how hard, soft or liquid the inside of the cell is. Photo: Till Moritz Münker
