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Spherical cellular aggregates are in vitro systems to study the physical and biophysical properties of tissues. We present a novel approach to characterize the mechanical properties of cellular aggregates using a micropipette aspiration technique. We observe an aspiration in two distinct regimes: a fast elastic deformation followed by a viscous flow. We develop a model based on this viscoelastic behavior to deduce the surface tension, viscosity, and elastic modulus. A major result is the increase of the surface tension with the applied force, interpreted as an effect of cellular mechanosensing.
Guevorkian et al. (Mon,) studied this question.