Since the crucial role of the microenvironment has been highlighted, many studies have been focused on the role of biomechanics in cancer cell growth and the invasion of the surrounding environment. Despite the search in recent years for molecular biomarkers to try to classify and stratify cancers, much effort needs to be made to take account of morphological and nanomechanical parameters that could provide supplementary information concerning tissue complexity adaptation during cancer development. The biomechanical properties of cancer cells and their surrounding extracellular matrix have actually been proposed as promising biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. The present review first describes the main methods used to study the mechanical properties of cancer cells. Then, we address the nanomechanical description of cultured cancer cells and the crucial role of the cytoskeleton for biomechanics linked with cell morphology. Finally, we depict how studying interaction of tumor cells with their surrounding microenvironment is crucial to integrating biomechanical properties in our understanding of tumor growth and local invasion.

Due to the expansion of the ageing population, understanding age-related pathologies remains of great interest. The human skin is particularly affected by environmental stressors and goes through profound alterations that modify its appearance throughout ageing (for review, [1]). These modifications occur in the epidermis that becomes thinner due to reduced capacities in proliferation/differentiation, resulting in reduction of exchange surface. The alterations also arise in the dermis where the number of fibroblasts declines, leading to a decrease in collagen and elastin fibres of the extracellular matrix. This process of reduced proliferation abilities of cells including keratinocytes in the epidermis and fibroblasts in the dermis is mainly due to cellular senescence. These modifications are due to chronologically intrinsic ageing, which can also be amplified by extrinsic factors such as solar UV radiation. Even if the molecular mechanisms underlying human skin ageing are increasingly understood, it remains essential to understand skin homeostasis and its perturbation during ageing process in an integrated view.