Platelet activation plays a critical role in haemostasis and thrombosis. It is well-known
that platelets generate contractile forces during activation. However, their mechanical
material properties have rarely been investigated. Here, we use scanning ion conductance
microscopy (SICM) to visualise morphological and mechanical properties of live human
platelets at high spatial resolution. We found that their mean elastic modulus decreases
during thrombin-induced activation by about a factor of two. We observed a similar
softening of platelets during cytochalasin D-induced cytoskeleton depolymerisation.
However, thrombin-induced temporal and spatial modulations of the elastic modulus
were substantially different from cytochalasin D-mediated changes. We thereby provide
new insights into the mechanics of haemostasis and establish SICM as a novel imaging
platform for the ex vivo investigation of the mechanical properties of live platelets.
Keywords
Thrombin, stiffness - scanning ion conductance microscopy - SICM - cytochalasin D