Single-Cell Mechanical Characterization Service of Macrophages
Overview Our Service Related Products Service Features Publications Scientific Resources Q & A
Macrophages are immune cells that function mechanically. They play a critical role in various physiological processes, such as defending against pathogens and aiding in tissue repair. Understanding their mechanical behavior is essential for comprehending their functionality, but this aspect remains poorly explored, particularly regarding different subtypes of macrophages. Accordingly, Creative Biolabs has successfully delivered a single-cell mechanical characterization service for macrophages to elucidate their mechanical properties for a more comprehensive understanding of their functions.
Mechanical Properties of Macrophages
While molecular profiling provides valuable insights into signaling and phenotypic changes of macrophages, recent advances in mechanobiology have revealed that cellular mechanics, such as stiffness, elasticity, and deformability, can also serve as powerful biomarkers of macrophage function and activation state.
Conventional phenotyping methods are limited in their ability to detect early or subtle functional changes in macrophages. Mechanical characteristics, however, provide label-free, non-destructive, and quantitative readouts that correlate with cytoskeletal remodeling, differentiation states, and environmental responsiveness.
Tab. 1 Why mechanical phenotyping matters?
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Feature
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Conventional Phenotyping
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Mechanical Phenotyping
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Detects surface markers
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√
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×
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Measures biophysical traits
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×
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√
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Captures early activation
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Moderate
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High
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Label-free
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×
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√
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Resolution
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Population-based
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Single-cell
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These unique attributes make mechanical profiling especially suitable for studying macrophage polarization (M1/M2 states), disease-related transitions, and drug-induced biomechanical effects.
Single-Cell Mechanical Characterization Service of Macrophages at Creative Biolabs
At Creative Biolabs, we offer a cutting-edge single-cell mechanical characterization service of macrophages. These mechanical phenotypes allow researchers to study macrophage heterogeneity, polarization, immune activation, and interaction with tumor or fibrotic microenvironments at an unprecedented resolution.
Importantly, we provide a series of single-cell mechanical characterization methods respectively targeting different locations of macrophages: cell surface, intracellular, and whole cell. Noteworthy, we also deliver a combination of different single-cell mechanical characterization methods to analyze the subpopulation of macrophages. With our robust macrophage therapeutic development platforms, we are confident in presenting comparably comprehensive mechanical properties analysis of macrophages to aid in discovering novel biomarkers on macrophages.
Here we list several methods for single-cell mechanical characterization of macrophages to choose from for your meaningful macrophage projects:
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Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM): AFM is commonly used to measure the mechanical properties of local areas of cells such as the cell surface and nucleus.
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Microfluidic Method (MM): MM is able to quantify a cell's ability to deform by controlling how long it takes the cell to pass through the channel and can enable non-contact, high-throughput measurements.
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Micropipette Aspiration (MA): MA can measure the mechanical properties of different organelles (such as membranes and nuclei) and of entire cells.
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Particle Tracking Microrheology (PTM): PTM is a passive method to measure the mechanical properties of single cells, which can obtain the mechanical phenotype of single cells in vivo without affecting cell viability, so it has a good application prospect.
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Magnetic Twisting Cytometry (MTC) / Magnetic Tweezers (MTs): MTC and MTs can measure the mechanical properties of the cell surface and inside the cell, and with advances in magnetic bead control technology, these two methods can more fully characterize the mechanical properties of the cell, such as simultaneously measuring the mechanical properties of the cell surface and inside.
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Parallel Plate Technology (PPT): PPT is suitable for high-precision measurement of Young's modulus, deformation capacity, relaxation, and creep function of single cells.
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Optical Tensioner (OS) / Optical Tweezers (OTs): OS and OTs can measure the mechanical properties of cells without directly touching them and are capable of integrating with multimedia subsystems to enable high-precision and relatively high-throughput manipulation and measurement of single cells.
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Acoustic Methods (AMs): AMs allow for high-throughput non-contact acquisition of single-cell mechanical phenotypes, as well as for cell separation based on cell mechanical properties such as deformability.
Our service is tailored for researchers in immunology, oncology, regenerative medicine, and pharmacology who aim to:
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Quantify biomechanical differences between M0, M1, and M2 macrophages
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Assess macrophage plasticity and phenotypic shifts in response to stimuli (e.g., LPS, IL-4)
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Study macrophage–cancer cell interactions in tumor microenvironments
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Evaluate mechanical responses to biomaterials or drug delivery systems
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Monitor functional restoration in immunotherapy-treated macrophages
Related Products
Through advanced technological means, we are able to precisely measure the stiffness, elasticity and other biomechanical parameters of individual macrophages. Against this backdrop, we are very pleased to introduce a range of products targeting macrophages. These products include macrophages as well as assay kits to support macrophage research and functional analysis. These products are rigorously tested to ensure that they can help you obtain accurate and reliable results in your research.
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Cat.No
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Product Name
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Product Type
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MTS-0922-JF10
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Human Macrophages, Alveolar
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Human Macrophages
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MTS-0922-JF99
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Human M0 Macrophages, 1.5 x 10^6
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Human M0 Macrophages
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MTS-0922-JF52
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C57/129 Mouse Macrophages, Bone Marrow
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C57/129 Mouse Macrophages
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MTS-0922-JF7
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Human M2 Macrophages, Peripheral Blood, 10 x 10^6
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Human M2 Macrophages
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MTS-0922-JF34
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CD1 Mouse Macrophages
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CD1 Mouse Macrophages
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MTS-1022-JF91
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Mouse Bone Marrow Monocytes (with Cas9 Expression), 0.5 x 10^6 cells
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Immune cells
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MTS-1022-JF1
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B129 Mouse Bone Marrow Monocytes, 1 x 10^7 cells
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Immune cells
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MTS-1022-JF10
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Human PB CD14+ Monocytes (Age: 23), 5 x 10^7 cells
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Immune cells
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MTS-1022-JF5
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CD1 Mouse Bone Marrow Monocytes, 1 x 10^7 cells
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Immune cells
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MTS-1022-JF4
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Canine Bone Marrow Monocytes, 5 x 10^6 cells
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Immune cells
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Service Features
Single-Cell Resolution
Capture macrophage heterogeneity in high fidelity
Label-Free and Live-Cell Compatible
No need for fixation or staining
Multiparametric Readouts
Combine mechanical and morphological data
High Throughput
RT-DC allows profiling of >1,000 cells/sec
Publications
Macrophages remodel their mechanics during differentiation toward different subtypes and drastically adapt their shapes during phagocytosis or entry to inflamed tissues. Although these functions depend on cell mechanical properties, the mechanical behavior of macrophages is still poorly understood and accurate physiologically relevant data on basic mechanical properties of different macrophage subtypes are lacking almost entirely. By combining several complementary single-cell force spectroscopy techniques, whole cell mechanics of M1 and M2 macrophages is systematically analyzed, and it is revealed that M2 macrophages exhibit solid-like behavior, whereas M1 macrophages behave more fluid-like.
Fig. 1 Distinct migratory properties of M1 and M2 macrophages at single-cell resolution.1,2
Scientific Resources
Q & A
Q: What types of samples do you accept for this service? Can we send in pre-isolated macrophages or whole blood?
A: We accept various sample types to meet your research needs. You may submit pre-isolated macrophages (from PBMCs, tissue digests, or cell lines like THP-1), polarized macrophages (e.g., LPS-treated M1 or IL-4-treated M2) and PBMCs for in-house differentiation. We also offer in-house macrophage isolation, stimulation, and polarization as part of our extended service package.
Q: Is this analysis destructive to the cells? Can I recover cells for downstream applications?
A: That depends on the method selected:
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RT-DC is fully non-destructive and live-cell compatible. Cells can be recovered after measurement, making it suitable for downstream applications like sorting, RNA extraction, or re-culture.
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AFM and Micropipette Aspiration are lower throughput and partially invasive - these methods are generally endpoint assays and are not ideal for cell recovery.
Q: Can you combine mechanical profiling with other functional assays like cytokine release or phagocytosis?
A: Absolutely. We offer integrated services that can link single-cell mechanics with functional outputs. For example:
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Mechanical + Cytokine Profiling: Measure TNF-α, IL-10, or IL-6 secretion post-deformation.
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Mechanical + Phagocytosis Assay: Compare mechanical properties of phagocytic vs. non-phagocytic macrophages using FITC-dextran uptake.
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Mechanical + Flow Cytometry: Overlay biophysical metrics with CD marker expression for multiparametric analysis.
Q: What is the turnaround time?
A: The turnaround time depends on the number of conditions and complexity of the analysis. Expedited services are available upon request.
References
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Evers, Tom MJ, et al. "Single‐Cell Mechanical Characterization of Human Macrophages." Advanced NanoBiomed Research 2.7 (2022): 2100133. https://doi.org/10.1002/anbr.202100133
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Under Open Access license CC BY 4.0, without modification.
