Elastic properties of living cells

Constitutive behavior of living cells is in deep relationship with their biological properties. For that reason gathering the most detailed information on cell mechanical behavior as it is feasible becomes extremely useful in assessing therapeutic protocols. However, investigation of elastic properties of living cells is a fairly complicated process that requires the use of advanced sensing devices. For example, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is a research tool largely used by biomedical engineers and biophysicists for studying cell mechanics. Experimental data can be given in input to finite element models to predict cell behavior and to simulate the tissue response to biophysical, chemical or pharmacological stimuli of different nature. The paper analyzes different aspects involved in the numerical simulation of AFM measurements on living cells focusing in particular on the effect of constitutive behavior.