ABSTRACT
Detachment force is the maximal force required to separate the cell from the substrate. This chapter presents an overview of methods that allow detection and quantification of cell adhesion, with an emphasis on atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based single-cell force spectroscopy (SCFS). Pioneering AFM-based SCFS experiments with living mammalian cells quantified cell–cell adhesion between trophoblasts and uterine epithelial cells to model interactions occurring during embryo implantation. Compared with bulk assays, SCFS assays are usually time-consuming, since only a single cell is analyzed in each experiment. Most SCFS techniques allow characterizing cell adhesion down to the single-molecule level, thereby providing detailed insights into regulation mechanisms of adhesion receptors. AFM-based SCFS allows to measure adhesive forces that range from a few piconewtons up to several hundred nanonewtons. AFMs specifically developed to perform SCFS are commercially available and relatively easy to use.
