Are cancer cells really softer than normal cells?

Charlotte, A. Cockram; Goud, Bruno; Manneville, Jean‐Baptiste

doi:10.1111/boc.201600078

Cited by 296 publications

(272 citation statements)

References 186 publications

(309 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

259

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Investigating the relation between cell biomechanics and human abnormalities has garnered much interest in recent years. 3,7 Young's modulus of highly invasive breast cancer cells was reported significantly lower than noninvasive breast cancer cells. Previous studies show that cancer cells express different mechanical and physical properties compared to healthy cells.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…5,6 There are several studies that have demonstrated softening of cancerous cells such that mechanical properties of cancer cells correlate to their invasiveness. 3,7 Young's modulus of highly invasive breast cancer cells was reported significantly lower than noninvasive breast cancer cells. 8 These findings suggest that cellular mechanics strongly correlates with the cancer invasiveness, and Young's modulus might be an indicator of cancer cell invasiveness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Modulating cancer cell mechanics and actin cytoskeleton structure by chemical and mechanical stimulations

Azadi

Tafazzoli-Shadpour

Soleimani

et al. 2019

J Biomedical Materials Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To date, a myriad of strategies has been suggested for targeting the chemical signaling of cancer cells. Also, biomechanical features are gaining much more attention. These features can be used as biomarkers which influence cancer progression. Current approaches on cancer treatment are mainly focused on changing the biochemical signaling of cancer cells, whereas less attention was devoted to their biomechanical properties. Herein, we propose targeting of cancer cell mechanics through the microenvironmental mechanical and chemical cues. As such, we examined the role of substrate stiffness as well as the effect of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) blockade in the cell mechanics. As a mechanical stimulus, stiff and soft polydimethylsiloxane substrates were utilized, while as a chemical stimulus, EGFR blockade was considered. Thus, breast cancer cell lines, MCF7 and MDA‐MB‐231, were cultured among chemical and mechanical groups. The local elasticity of cancer cells was assessed by atomic force microscopy nanoindentation method. Furthermore, we evaluated the effect of mentioned mechanical and chemical treatments on the morphology, actin cytoskeleton structures, and cancer cell migration abilities. The stiffness and migration ability of cancer cells increased by substrate stiffening while Cetuximab treatment demonstrated an elevation in the elastic modulus of cells followed by a reduction in the migration ability. These findings indicate that cancer cell mechanics is modulated not only by the mechanical cues but also by the chemical ones through EGFR signaling pathway. Overall, our results illustrate that manipulation of cell mechanics allows for the possible modulation of tumor cell migration. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 107A: 1569–1581, 2019.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Modulating cancer cell mechanics and actin cytoskeleton structure by chemical and mechanical stimulations

Azadi

Tafazzoli-Shadpour

Soleimani

et al. 2019

J Biomedical Materials Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, the stiffness of a tumour can be up to twenty fold higher than that corresponding to normal tissues [Baker et al., ; Egeblad et al., ; Tung et al., ]. Although these tumour tissues are more rigid, individual cancer cells are often softer than healthy cells [Alibert et al., ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrin diversity brings specificity in mechanotransduction

Seetharaman

Etienne-Manneville

2018

Biology of the Cell

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cells sense and respond to the biochemical and physical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) through adhesive structures that bridge the cell cytoskeleton and the surrounding environment. Integrin-mediated adhesions interact with specific ECM proteins and sense the rigidity of the substrate to trigger signalling pathways that, in turn, regulate cellular processes such as adhesion, motility, proliferation and differentiation. This process, called mechanotransduction, influenced by the involvement of different integrin subtypes and their high ECM-ligand binding specificity, contributes to the cell-type-specific mechanical responses. In this review, we describe how the expression of particular integrin subtypes affects cellular adaptation to substrate rigidity. We then explain the role of integrins and associated proteins in mechanotransduction, focusing on their specificity in mechanosensing and force transmission.

show abstract

“…The mechanics of cells could thus potentially be used as novel diagnostic and/or prognostic physical biomarkers to complement traditional histological examinations and genetic phenotyping [153]. However, in order to apply AFM single-cell mechanical assay in practical biomedical applications (e.g., cancer diagnosis), several issues need to be addressed.…”

Section: Discussion and Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For clinical applications, the reliability of cell mechanic detection should be validated on many clinical cases. The procedures of clinical sample preparation and AFM measurements need to be standardized and the related value ranges of cancer cells and normal cells need to be confirmed [153]. Several studies have explored directly measuring the mechanics of primary tumor tissues and showed that tissue mechanics could indicate different stages during tumor metastasis [127], [128].…”

Section: Discussion and Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Atomic Force Microscopy in Characterizing Cell Mechanics for Biomedical Applications: A Review

Dang

Liu

et al. 2017

IEEE Trans.on Nanobioscience

104

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

-Cell mechanics is a novel label-free biomarker for indicating cell states and pathological changes. The advent of atomic force microscopy (AFM) provides a powerful tool for quantifying the mechanical properties of single living cells in aqueous conditions. The wide use of AFM in characterizing cell mechanics in the past two decades has yielded remarkable novel insights in understanding the development and progression of certain diseases, such as cancer, showing the huge potential of cell mechanics for practical applications in the field of biomedicine. In this paper, we reviewed the utilization of AFM to characterize cell mechanics. First, the principle and method of AFM single-cell mechanical analysis was presented, along with the mechanical responses of cells to representative external stimuli measured by AFM. Next, the unique changes of cell mechanics in two types of physiological processes (stem cell differentiation, cancer metastasis) revealed by AFM were summarized. After that, the molecular mechanisms guiding cell mechanics were analyzed. Finally the challenges and future directions were discussed.

show abstract

Are cancer cells really softer than normal cells?

Cited by 296 publications

References 186 publications

Modulating cancer cell mechanics and actin cytoskeleton structure by chemical and mechanical stimulations

Modulating cancer cell mechanics and actin cytoskeleton structure by chemical and mechanical stimulations

Integrin diversity brings specificity in mechanotransduction

Atomic Force Microscopy in Characterizing Cell Mechanics for Biomedical Applications: A Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About