Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) indentation on living cells in physiological medium is a well established technique used for investigation of the cell mechanical properties at nanoscale. However, interpretation of the experimental data obtained in such experiments is rarely a trivial task. This is happening because living cells have a complex response to the applied mechanical stress, response th...

Magnéli-type vanadium oxides form the homologous series V(n)O(2) (n) (-1) and exhibit a temperature-induced, reversible metal-insulator first order phase transition (MIT). We studied the change of the adhesion force across the transition temperature between the cleavage planes of various vanadium oxide Magnéli phases (n = 3 … 7) and spherical titanium atomic force microscope (AFM) tips by syste...

Motivated by recent studies on reversible adhesion mechanisms of geckos and insects, we investigate the effect of pre-tension on the orientation-dependent adhesion strength of an elastic tape adhering on a substrate. Our analysis shows that the pre-tension can significantly increase the peel-off force at small peeling angles while decreasing it at large peeling angles, leading to a strongly rev...

We investigated the effects of orientation angle on the adhesion of single gecko setae using dual-axis microelectromechanical systems force sensors to simultaneously detect normal and shear force components. Adhesion was highly sensitive to the pitch angle between the substrate and the seta's stalk. Maximum lateral adhesive force was observed with the stalk parallel to the substrate, and adhesi...

In order to investigate the mechanism of gas hydrate deposition and agglomeration in gas dominated flowlines, a high-pressure micromechanical force (MMF) apparatus was applied to directly measure CH4/C2H6 hydrate adhesion/cohesion forces under low temperature and high pressure conditions. A CH4/C2H6 gas mixture was used as the hydrate former. Adhesion forces between hydrate particles and carbon...

Understanding how cell adhesion proteins form adhesion domains is a key challenge in cell biology. Here, we use single-molecule atomic force microscopy (AFM) to demonstrate the force-induced formation and propagation of adhesion nanodomains in living fungal cells, focusing on the covalently anchored cell-wall protein Als5p from Candida albicans. We show that pulling on single adhesins with AFM ...

We have measured the interaction forces between a murine melanoma cell and a poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) microsphere coated with/without hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles (i.e., an HAp/PLLA or a bare PLLA microsphere) in a serum-free culture medium, using atomic force microscopy (AFM) with colloid probe technique, in order to investigate how the HAp-nanoparticle coating as well as interfacial s...

In this study, colloidal force spectroscopy was utilized to quantify interactions between collagen and aggrecan in physiological and non-physiological aqueous solutions. An aggrecanfunctionalized probe tip (R ~ 2.5μm) was indented ~500nm into the surface of a native collagen network, composed of trypsin-treated, proteoglycan-depleted cartilage. The resulting forceindentation curves were used to...

Migration of a fibroblast along a collagen fiber can be regarded as cell locomotion in one-dimension (1D). In this process, a cell protrudes forward, forms a new adhesion, produces traction forces, and releases its rear adhesion in order to advance itself along a path. However, how a cell coordinates its adhesion formation, traction forces, and rear release in 1D migration is unclear. Here, we ...

The micromanipulation of objects of size between 10 μm and 1 mm is often disturbed by the adhesion between the contacting surfaces. The electrostatic force in the contact alone can significantly perturb the micromanipulation by its important adhesion effect. The electrostatic adhesion force is influenced by many factors, i.e., the materials of the contacting bodies and the topography of the con...