A novel micromanipulation technique for measuring the bursting strength of single mammalian cells.

Information about the bursting strength of animal cells is essential if the mechanisms of cell damage in bioreactors are to be understood, and if cell mechanical properties are ever to be related to cell structure and physiology. We have developed a novel cell compression technique that makes it possible to directly measure the bursting strength of single mammalian cells, and to infer information about cell mechanical properties.