Measuring the Strength of Macrophages

A new high-throughput device measures cell strength—important information for determining drug efficacy for hypertension, asthma, muscular dystrophy, et al. “The device [from researchers at Rutgers University and UCLA] is called fluorescently labeled elastomeric contractible surfaces, or FLECS. Its key component is a flexible rectangular plate with more than 100,000 uniformly spaced X-shaped micropatterns of proteins that are sticky so cells settle on and attach to them. The X’s embedded in the plate are elastic, so they shrink when the cells contract. The X’s are made fluorescent with a molecular marker to enable imaging and quantification of how much the shapes shrink.”   MORE

Image Credit:   UCLA