Direct measurement of the force of adhesion of a single biological cell using an atomic force microscope

A fundamental understanding of factors controlling adhesion and the subsequent development of adhesion-free surfaces would benefit greatly from direct measurements of the strength of the adhesive interactions. The key to the technique is the immobilization of a single particle at the end of a cantilever allowing measurement of the interactions between that particle and any surface of interest. Such colloid probes with particles in the size range of 1-5 μm were used to study long-range interactions in solution and also in a few cases the adhesion of inorganic particles. The first use of a single, living, immobilized cell as a cell probe for the study of cell-surface adhesion is reported.