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Study of Mechanical Properties of Sub-micron ECM in Live Zebrafish Using Brillouin Scattering (CAT#: STEM-ST-0127-YJL)

Introduction

At the heart of tissue morphogenesis lies a tight coordination between patterns in mechanical properties and signaling molecules that together determine cell fate and shape. Mechanical properties in cells and tissues are determined by the cytoskeleton and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Differences in ECM stiffness have been shown to be sufficient to determine cell fates. Furthermore, in textbook examples of organ elongation, such as germband extension in Drosophila or neural plate extension in vertebrates, the mechanical anisotropies that instruct shape are known to be generated within the cell's cytoskeleton. <br />Zebrafish have several advantages compared to other vertebrate models used in modeling human diseases, particularly for large-scale genetic mutant and therapeutic compound screenings, and other biomedical research applications.




Principle

From a quantum point of view, Brillouin scattering is an interaction of light photons with acoustic or vibrational quanta (phonons), with magnetic spin waves (magnons), or with other low frequency quasiparticles interacting with light. The interaction consists of an inelastic scattering process in which a phonon or magnon is either created (Stokes process) or annihilated (anti-Stokes process). The energy of the scattered light is slightly changed, that is decreased for a Stokes process and increased for an anti-Stokes process. This shift, known as the Brillouin shift, is equal to the energy of the interacting phonon and magnon and thus Brillouin scattering can be used to measure phonon and magnon energies.

Applications

Brillouin scattering is used to determine acoustic velocities and elastic properties of a number of crystalline solids, glasses, and liquids.

Procedure

1. Sample preparation
2. Measurement by scattering detection instrument
3. Data analysis

Materials

Brillouin scattering measurement system (Brillouin spectrometer)