A technical approach to endothelial dysfunction by atomic force microscope / 生物医学工程学杂志

ABSTRACT

Endothelial cells (ECs) with a variety of functions are vulnerable to attack by various risk factors. These risk factors of vascular pathology lead to endothelial dysfunction (ED). However, the present methods of evaluating ED have their limitations. Atomic force microscope (AFM), which can offer the information on the surface images and the mechanical properties of the single cell at nanometer scale, will become a new technical approach to ED evaluation. This review focuses on the recent progress in the application of AFM to assess ED.