<i>Candida albicans</i> Adhesion Measured by Optical Nanomotion Detection
Maria I. Villalba,
Salomé LeibundGut-Landmann,
Marie-Elisabeth Bougnoux,
Christophe d’Enfert,
Ronnie G. Willaert,
Sandor Kasas
Affiliations
Maria I. Villalba
Laboratory of Biological Electron Microscopy, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Salomé LeibundGut-Landmann
Section of Immunology, Vetsuisse Faculty, and Institute of Experimental Immunology, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
Marie-Elisabeth Bougnoux
Unité Biologie et Pathogénicité Fongiques, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, INRAE USC 2019, 75015 Paris, France
Christophe d’Enfert
Unité Biologie et Pathogénicité Fongiques, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, INRAE USC 2019, 75015 Paris, France
Ronnie G. Willaert
International Joint Research Group VUB-EPFL NanoBiotechnology & NanoMedicine (NANO), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Sandor Kasas
Laboratory of Biological Electron Microscopy, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Cellular adhesion plays an important role in numerous fundamental physiological and pathological processes. Its measurement is relatively complex, requires sophisticated equipment, and, in most cases, cannot be carried out without breaking the links between the studied cell and its target. In this contribution, we propose a novel, nanomotion-based, technique that overcomes these drawbacks. The applied force is generated by the studied cell itself (nanomotion), whereas cellular movements are detected by traditional optical microscopy and dedicated software. The measurement is non-destructive, single-cell sensitive, and permits following the evolution of the adhesion as a function of time. We applied the technique on different strains of the fungal pathogen Candida albicans on a fibronectin-coated surface. We demonstrated that this novel approach can significantly simplify, accelerate, and make more affordable living cells–substrate adhesion measurements.
