Planar patch-clamp force microscopy on living cells

Here we report a new combination of the patch-clamp technique with the atomic force microscope (AFM). A planar patch-clamp chip microstructured from borosilicate glass was used as a support for mechanical probing of living cells. The setup not only allows for immobilizing even a non-adherent cell for measurements of its mechanical properties, but also for simultaneously measuring the electrophysiological properties of a single cell. As a proof of principle experiment we measured the voltage-induced membrane movement of HEK293 and Jurkat cells in the whole-cell voltage clamp configuration. The results of these measurements are in good agreement with previous studies. By using the planar patch-clamp chip for immobilization, the AFM not only can image non-adhering cells, but also gets easily access to an electrophysiologically controlled cellular probe at low vibrational noise.