Mass measurements during lymphocytic leukemia cell polyploidization decouple cell cycle- and cell size-dependent growth
Luye Mu, Joon Ho Kang, Selim Olçum, Kristofor R. Payer, Nicholas L. Calistri, Robert Kimmerling, Scott R. Manalis, Teemu P. Miettinen
Abstract
Significance Cell size is believed to influence cell growth through limited transport efficiency in larger cells. However, this has not been experimentally investigated due to a lack of noninvasive, high-precision growth quantification methods suitable for measuring large cells. Here, we have engineered large versions of microfluidic mass sensors called suspended microchannel resonators in order to study the growth of single mammalian cells that range 100-fold in mass. Our measurements, which decouple growth effects caused by cell cycle and cell size, revealed that absolute cell size does not impose strict transport or other limitations that would inhibit growth and that cell cycle has a large influence on growth.