1 Nanomechanical Investigation of Soft Biological Cell Adhesion using Atomic Force Microscopy Eleftherios Siamantouras 1 , Claire E. Hills 2 , Paul E. Squires 2 , Kuo-Kang Liu 1 1 School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, CV4 7AL. 2 School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN6 7TS UK. Author for correspondence: Kuo-Kang Liu School of Engineering University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL Tel: + 44 (0)24 76574348 Fax: +44 (0)24 76418922 Email: I.K.Liu@warwick.ac.uk