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Atomic force microscopy investigation of morphological changes in living keratinocytes treated with HgCl 2 at not cytotoxic doses
Author(s) -
LASALVIA M.,
PERNA G.,
MEZZENGA E.,
MIGLIORINI E.,
LAZZARINO M.,
L’ABBATE N.,
CAPOZZI V.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.2010.03479.x
Subject(s) - atomic force microscopy , chemistry , cytotoxic t cell , morphology (biology) , keratinocyte , biophysics , microscopy , mercury (programming language) , nanotechnology , materials science , biology , biochemistry , optics , in vitro , physics , computer science , programming language , genetics
Summary Morphological changes of normal human keratinocyte cells have been monitored by means of atomic force microscopy after the exposure at a mercury solution containing HgCl 2 at 10 −7 M. The measurements have been carried out in contact mode in a thermostated liquid cell, to reproduce a cellular environment similar to the physiologic one. Remarkable alterations of the cellular morphology and volume have been revealed after few minutes from starting the exposure experiment, although the HgCl 2 concentration is several orders of magnitudes lower than the cytotoxic value (10 −4 M). The atomic force microscopy technique results to be a powerful mean to investigate modifications induced in the cell morphology by external chemical agents.