Studying nucleic envelope and plasma membrane mechanics of eukaryotic cells using confocal reflectance interferometric microscopy

Mechanical stress on eukaryotic nucleus has been implicated in a diverse range of diseases including muscular dystrophy and cancer metastasis. Today, there are very few non-perturbative methods to quantify nuclear mechanical properties. Interferometric microscopy, also known as quantitative phase microscopy (QPM), is a powerful tool for studying red blood cell biomechanics. The existing QPM tools, however, have not been utilized to study biomechanics of complex eukaryotic cells either due to lack of depth sectioning, limited phase measurement sensitivity, or both. Here, we present depth-resolved confocal reflectance interferometric microscopy as the next generation QPM to study nuclear and plasma membrane biomechanics. The proposed system features multiple confocal scanning foci, affording 1.5 micron depth-resolution and millisecond frame rate. Furthermore, a near common-path interferometer enables quantifying nanometer-scale membrane fluctuations with better than 200 picometers sensitivity. Our results present accurate quantification of nucleic envelope and plasma membrane fluctuations in embryonic stem cells. Biomechanical studies of eukaryotic cells have been limited due to low sensitivity and axial resolution in interferometric imaging. Here, the authors present depth-resolved confocal reflectance interferometric microscopy with high sensitivity and temporal resolution, which enables quantification of nucleic envelope and plasma membrane fluctuations.