ReviewNature methods2019
Brillouin microscopy: an emerging tool for mechanobiology.
Review in Nature methods, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 228 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
228 citing papers in PubMed.
- Nuclear mechanobiology rules immune cells' functions: from differentiation to cell trafficking and pathogen killing.Nucleus (Austin, Tex.) · 2026Review
- Probing biomolecular condensates with a minimally perturbative experimental readout framework.The Biochemical journal · 2026Review
- Optical Detection of Cellular Signals at Material Interfaces.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
- Quantitative Analysis of Cytoplasmic Viscosity in Colorectal Cancer Cells by Differential Dynamic Microscopy of Genetically Encoded Nanoparticles.Chemical & biomedical imaging · 2026Article
- Closing the Loop: High-Precision 3D Photofabrication in Living Tissues.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Mechanical memory as a metastatic compass: a comparative framework for understanding organotropism through biophysical priming.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2026Review
- Chromatin condensates tune nuclear mechanosensing and preserve nuclear integrity to prevent cGAS activation.The EMBO journal · 2026Article
- Lipid-Mediated DNA-Protein Coupling Reinforces the Mechanics of HP1α-DNA Condensates.Small science · 2026Article
- Mechanical control in dental and jaw morphogenesis and remodeling.International journal of oral science · 2026Review
- TiFM2.0 - versatile mechanical measurement and actuation in live embryos.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Crystalline Lens Tilts Less With Higher Myopia in Children With Limited Age-Related Effect.Translational vision science & technology · 2026Article
- Embedded cell-only bioprinting to engineer structurally aligned meniscal fibrocartilage.Materials today. Bio · 2026Article
- Towards a standardized file format and open-source analysis framework for Brillouin microscopy data.Nature methods · 2026Article
- Full vibrational spectroscopy for simultaneous mechanical, structural and chemical analysis.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Multiscale Architecture and Mechanics of the Cell Nucleus: Implications for Disease, Bioengineering and Nanomedicine.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Dual Optical Elastography Techniques Reveal the Regulation of Corneal Stiffness by Collagen XIV.Journal of biophotonics · 2026Article
- Getting nuclear size just right - emerging mechanisms regulating nuclear scaling and morphology.Journal of cell science · 2026Review
- Brillouin microscopy for contact- and label-free quantification of tissue stiffness in lung fibrosis.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2026Article
- Advancing mechanobiology from single molecules to complex cellular systems.Nature nanotechnology · 2026Review
- Active and probe-free intracellular rheology via phase-sensitive thermoviscous flows.PNAS nexus · 2026Article
168 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The role and importance of mechanical properties of cells and tissues in cellular function, development and disease has widely been acknowledged, however standard techniques currently used to assess them exhibit intrinsic limitations. Recently, Brillouin microscopy, a type of optical elastography, has emerged as a non-destructive, label- and contact-free method that can probe the viscoelastic properties of biological samples with diffraction-limited resolution in 3D. This led to increased attention amongst the biological and medical research communities, but it also sparked debates about the interpretation and relevance of the measured physical quantities. Here, we review this emerging technology by describing the underlying biophysical principles and discussing the interpretation of Brillouin spectra arising from heterogeneous biological matter. We further elaborate on the technique's limitations, as well as its potential for gaining insights in biology, in order to guide interested researchers from various fields.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.