PROBING THE NANOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF VIRUSES, CELLS AND CELLULAR STRUCTURES - Life at the Nanoscale: Atomic Force Microscopy of Live Cells - page 343

16.7 CONCLUSIONS

In biological systems, structure is closely coupled with function, and this
relationship holds true no less for mechanical than for other properties.
An exploration of the nanomechanical properties of biological entities can
facilitate our understanding of their functional roles per se as well as in a
more global context. And since mechanical compliance can be inluenced by
pathological agents, an evaluation of this property might be put to use in a
clinical context, either as a diagnostic tool or in monitoring the evolution of
a disease. Recent developments in the AFM technology now render possible
a fairly straightforward measurement of the mechanical properties of
biological structures in the micrometer-to-nanometre size range. However,
a number of stumbling blocks remain. Experimentally, these problems
include an immobilization of the specimen on a rigid, lat substratum without
compromising its responsiveness to deformational forces. Analytically,
the automatic processing of FD curves and the interpretation of data are
dificulties that have been only partially overcome. However, progress in this
ield has been steady, and there is no reason to suppose that the remaining
hurdles will not be overcome in the not-too-distant future.

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