Activity-dependent glassy cell mechanics II: Nonthermal fluctuations under metabolic activity.

The glassy cytoplasm, crowded with bio-macromolecules, is fluidized in living cells by mechanical energy derived from metabolism. Characterizing the living cytoplasm as a nonequilibrium system is crucial in elucidating the intricate mechanism that relates cell mechanics to metabolic activities. In this study, we conducted active and passive microrheology in eukaryotic cells, and quantified nonthermal fluctuations by examining the violation of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem.

Activity-dependent glassy cell mechanics Ⅰ: Mechanical properties measured with active microrheology.

Active microrheology was conducted in living cells by applying an optical-trapping force to vigorously fluctuating tracer beads with feedback-tracking technology. The complex shear modulus G(ω)=G(ω)-iG(ω) was measured in HeLa cells in an epithelial-like confluent monolayer. We found that G(ω)∝(-iω) over a wide range of frequencies (1 Hz < ω/2π < 10 kHz).