Atomic Force Microscopy for Tumor Research at Cell and Molecule Levels

Abstract

Tumors have posed a serious threat to human life and health. Researchers can determine whether or not cells are cancerous, whether the cancer cells are invasive or metastatic, and what the effects of drugs are on cancer cells by the physical properties such as hardness, adhesion, and Young's modulus. The atomic force microscope (AFM) has emerged as a key important tool for biomechanics research on tumor cells due to its ability to image and collect force spectroscopy information of biological samples with nano-level spatial resolution and under near-physiological conditions. This article reviews the existing results of the study of cancer cells with AFM. The main foci are the operating principle of AFM and research advances in mechanical property measurement, ultra-microtopography, and molecular recognition of tumor cells, which allows us to outline what we do know it in a systematic way and to summarize and to discuss future directions.

Atomic force microscopy in disease‐related studies: Exploring tissue and cell mechanics

“…Among them, contact mode, non-contact mode and tapping mode are the most widely used modes (Qin et al, 2022).…”

“…Based on these mechanical differences, many studies have been conducted to determine whether cells or tissues are cancerous by mechanical parameters such as stiffness, adhesion, Young's modulus, etc. AFM has become an important tool for tumor mechanics research (Qin et al, 2022). AFM can measure and characterize the morphological and mechanical properties of cells and can be used as a useful marker to distinguish between different cell types, states (benign or cancerous), and mechanical phenotypes for cancer diagnosis and even to monitor the progression of cancer (Kozminsky & Sohn, 2020; Kwon et al, 2019; Lu et al, 2020).…”

“…These modes are further divided into specific techniques based on their operational principles and the information they provide (Table 1). Among them, contact mode, non‐contact mode and tapping mode are the most widely used modes (Qin et al, 2022).…”

Cancer Development in Hepatocytes by Long-Term Induction of Hypoxic Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell (HCC)-Derived Exosomes In Vivo and In Vitro

“…Tumor growth and metastasis are mechanical processes involving the migration and uncontrolled division of cells . Pathological changes in cells lead to changes in the mechanical properties of cells, such as cell deformability and adhesion, thus affecting the changes in physiological properties of cells and finally leading to the occurrence and development of cancer. , An AFM is used here to detect and characterize the changes in the physical properties of cells during this process, which provides a new way for understanding tumor development.…”

Imaging microwave field of chip surfaces based on scanning microwave microscopy

“…Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used to investigate the surface structure and properties of materials by detecting the very weak interatomic interaction between the surface of the sample and the probe [19,20]. It has been widely used in the fields of semiconductors, nano-functional materials, chemical industry, biological research and research experiments of various nano-related disciplines in research institutes [21][22][23][24], and becomes a basic tool for nanoscience research [25,26]. By combining microwave measurement techniques, near-field scanning microwave microscopy (NSMM) is derived as a new method of evaluating electrical parameters.…”