Oxidative stress is an important cellular phenomenon that is necessary for maintaining cellular metabolic activity but can cause adverse effects when it accumulates abnormally. It may alter the mechanical structure and behaviour of cells by affecting the cell membrane and cytoskeleton and by triggering apoptosis. Moreover, oxidative stress is closely associated with conditions such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and ageing, making it important to investigate and understand this phenomenon at the cellular level. This study reports a label-free and contact-free platform for imaging the morphological and mechanical behaviour of live cells using an acousto-holographic microscope. F-actin fluorescence staining and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining were also performed to support the findings. Different stages of apoptosis could be morphologically distinguished while simultaneously mapping the elasticity modulus distribution of the cells. It was found that C2C12 myoblast cells, which initially exhibited the highest elasticity modulus, showed lower resistance to apoptosis and underwent a more pronounced decrease in elasticity modulus under oxidative stress. In contrast, HCT 116 cancer cells, which were the softest initially, exhibited a smaller reduction in elasticity modulus under oxidative stress than C2C12 and HUVEC cells. These findings support the greater resistance of HCT 116 cells to apoptosis.     «

Oxidative stress is an important cellular phenomenon that is necessary for maintaining cellular metabolic activity but can cause adverse effects when it accumulates abnormally. It may alter the mechanical structure and behaviour of cells by affecting the cell membrane and cytoskeleton and by triggering apoptosis. Moreover, oxidative stress is closely associated with conditions such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and ageing, making it important to investigate and understand this phenomeno...     »