Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Objectives: In this study, the theoretical results of the trajectories of a particle in Brownian motion are presented through simulation using LabVIEW. Methods/Statistical Analysis: Particle-tracking methods, which probe local mechanical properties has been employed. For a 2.0-micron polystyrene bead attached to the walls of fibroblast cells, its movements are tracked through time using video microscopy in which Rytrack software geared with algorithms is used to extract the trajectories of the particles. The time-lag dependence Mean Square Displacement (MSD) of each fibroblast cell is computed from the time-dependent coordinates of that cell. Findings: From the experiment and through simulations of random walk, it is found that as time increases, MSD also increases. It reveals the viscoelastic nature of the microenvironment in the immediate vicinity of each fibroblast cell. From the computed MSDs, the fibroblast cell possesses both having liquidlike and solid-like characteristics. The MSD graph gives characteristic curve that elucidates the nature of fibroblast cell in the system. The analyzed diffusion is of isotropic nature depicted by the linear correlation and the tracers are having sub-diffusive mean trajectories. The mechanical properties of the cytoplasm of fibroblast cells are spatially variable and depend on timescales. Application/Improvement: This study gives characteristic analysis on the mechanical properties of fibroblast cells which are essential for proper function and health.

Keywords: Biophysics, Fibroblast Cells, LabVIEW, Random Walk, Rytrack, Simulation