Probing biomechanical properties with a centrifugal force quartz crystal microbalance

Aaron Webster (), Frank Vollmer and Yuki Sato
Additional contact information
Aaron Webster: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Frank Vollmer: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Yuki Sato: The Rowland Institute at Harvard, Harvard University

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Application of force on biomolecules has been instrumental in understanding biofunctional behaviour from single molecules to complex collections of cells. Current approaches, for example, those based on atomic force microscopy or magnetic or optical tweezers, are powerful but limited in their applicability as integrated biosensors. Here we describe a new force-based biosensing technique based on the quartz crystal microbalance. By applying centrifugal forces to a sample, we show it is possible to repeatedly and non-destructively interrogate its mechanical properties in situ and in real time. We employ this platform for the studies of micron-sized particles, viscoelastic monolayers of DNA and particles tethered to the quartz crystal microbalance surface by DNA. Our results indicate that, for certain types of samples on quartz crystal balances, application of centrifugal force both enhances sensitivity and reveals additional mechanical and viscoelastic properties.

Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6284 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms6284

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6284

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().