Mechanical heterogeneity in the bone microenvironment as characterised by atomic force microscopy

Bones are structurally heterogeneous organs with diverse functions that undergo mechanical stimuli across multiple length scales. Mechanical characterisation of the bone microenvironment is important for understanding how bones function in health and disease. Here we describe the mechanical architecture of cortical bone, the growth plate, metaphysis and marrow in fresh murine bones, probed using atomic force microscopy in physiological buffer. Both elastic and viscoelastic properties are found to be highly heterogeneous with moduli ranging over 3 to 5 orders of magnitude, both within and across regions. All regions include extremely soft areas, with moduli of a few Pascal and viscosities as low as tens Pa⋅s. Aging impacts the viscoelasticity of the bone marrow strongly but has limited effect on the other regions studied. Our approach provides the opportunity to explore the mechanical properties of complex tissues at the length scale relevant to cellular processes and how these impact on aging and disease.