Electromechanical and elastic probing of bacteria in a cell culture medium

G. L. Thompson, V. V. Reukov, M. P. Nikiforov, S. Jesse, S. V. Kalinin, A. A. Vertegel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Rapid phenotype characterization and identification of cultured cells, which is needed for progress in tissue engineering and drug testing, requires an experimental technique that measures physical properties of cells with sub-micron resolution. Recently, band excitation piezoresponse force microscopy (BEPFM) has been proven useful for recognition and imaging of bacteria of different types in pure water. Here, the BEPFM method is performed for the first time on physiologically relevant electrolyte media, such as Dulbeccos phosphate-buffered saline (DPBS) and Dulbeccos modified Eagles medium (DMEM). Distinct electromechanical responses for Micrococcus lysodeikticus (Gram-positive) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (Gram-negative) bacteria in DPBS are demonstrated. The results suggest that mechanical properties of the outer surface coating each bacterium, as well as the electrical double layer around them, are responsible for the BEPFM image formation mechanism in electrolyte media.

Original languageEnglish
Article number245705
JournalNanotechnology
Volume23
Issue number24
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 22 2012

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Center for Research ResourcesR21RR024449

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