Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting | Singapore

Mechanobiology of Disease

Poster Abstracts

31-POS Board 31 Young and Senescence Fibroblast Cells Are Different in Mechanical Properties! Samira Khalaji 1 , Fenneke KleinJan 1 , Vida Farsam 2 , Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek 2 , Kay-E Gottschalk 1 . 1 Institute of Experimental Physics, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany, 2 Klinik für Dermatologie und Allergologie, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany. Biological aging is a complex, multi-dimensional process that makes physiological changes taking place over a long period of time. This process takes up with macroscopic and microscopic scale alterations within individual cells, over transformations in tissues and organs and to changes of the whole organism. Cellular senescence is already characterised based on age associated molecular markers in gene and protein pattern expression such as telomere dysfunction. But there is little information regarding relationship of age and the mechanical properties of cells. Biomechanical properties are vital properties for the cells and tissues of living organisms. Estimation of the mechanical properties of a cell depends on a method of measurement, theoretical model as well as cell state. Hence, we employed a variety of methods such as passive microrheology and atomic force microscopy on primary dermal fibroblasts from male human with CPD 17-35 (young) and CPD 58-59 (senescence) as a model of in vitro replicative senescence. Our primary result shows significant differences in the viscoelastic properties of young and senescence fibroblasts depending on in vitro senescence level and also compared to older studies.

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