Passive and active single-cell biomechanics: a new perspective in cancer diagnosis

Brunner, Claudia; Niendorf, Axel; Käs, Josef A.

doi:10.1039/b807545j

Cited by 38 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 81 publications

(117 reference statements)

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“…Also, any conditioning of the phagocyte, such as its fixation, which is required, e.g., in aspiration techniques, is not needed. In cancer research, where it has been found that the biomechanical properties of the cytoskeleton of cancer cells defer significantly from those of non-malignant cells (cf., e.g., Brunner et al, 2009, and references therein), an easily applicable, microscopic non-destructive probe for cytoskeletal stress may be of interest not only for basic studies, but also even for initial diagnosis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In-vitro sensing of biomechanical forces in live cells by a whispering gallery mode biosensor

Himmelhaus

François

2009

Biosensors and Bioelectronics

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In-vitro sensing of biomechanical forces in live cells by a whispering gallery mode biosensor

Himmelhaus

François

2009

Biosensors and Bioelectronics

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“…This is fundamentally due to several obstacles that might emerge when dealing with complex microstructures characterizing living systems, difficulties essentially arising from the fact that, during the test, intrinsic changes of the biological structure, movements of its mechanical apparatus and biochemical responses can all in principle interfere with the actual property being measured. Furthermore, for example at the single-cell scale, mechanical features may be drastically different from one site to another, as a consequence of reorganization dynamics activated by adhesion, migration and polymerization-depolymerization processes which change the internal configuration of the cytoskeleton and, as a result, may determine non-homogeneous distribution of stiffness and deformation [2,3,52]. In this respect, Lekka et al [31] show, for instance, that depth of indentation, the substrate on which the cells are spread, the load rate as well as the position and time of cell poking might all influence the stiffness atomic force microscopy measurements.…”

Section: Sensitivity Analyses: Qualitative Insights Into and The Resomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A frequency-based hypothesis for mechanically targeting and selectively attacking cancer cells

Fraldi¹,

Cugno

Deseri

et al. 2015

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Experimental studies recently performed on single cancer and healthy cells have demonstrated that the former are about 70% softer than the latter, regardless of the cell lines and the measurement technique used for determining the mechanical properties. At least in principle, the difference in cell stiffness might thus be exploited to create mechanical-based targeting strategies for discriminating neoplastic transformations within human cell populations and for designing innovative complementary tools to cell-specific molecular tumour markers, leading to possible applications in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer diseases. With the aim of characterizing and gaining insight into the overall frequency response of single-cell systems to mechanical stimuli (typically low-intensity therapeutic ultrasound), a generalized viscoelastic paradigm, combining classical and spring-pot-based models, is introduced for modelling this problem by neglecting the cascade of mechanobiological events involving the cell nucleus, cytoskeleton, elastic membrane and cytosol. Theoretical results show that differences in stiffness, experimentally observed ex vivo and in vitro, allow healthy and cancer cells to be discriminated, by highlighting frequencies (from tens to hundreds of kilohertz) associated with resonance-like phenomena-prevailing on thermal fluctuations-that could be helpful in targeting and selectively attacking tumour cells.

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“…It is well-known that the elasticity of mammalian cells is important in cellular processes and signal transductions and it is even a valuable indicator of disease development. [11] In plants, the mechanical properties of the cells also play a key role in the maintenance of plant morphology, growth control, and resistance against pathogens. [12] It has been found that the elasticity of plant cells and tissues is sensitive towards structural changes in the cell walls and the tissues [13] and its change is associated with the cellular response to environmental stresses, including drought, [14] salts, [15] temperature, [16] and trace-metal pollutants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atomic Force Microscopy Study of the Effects of Water‐Soluble Fullerenes on the Elasticity of Living Plant Cells

Zhang

Liu

Xia

et al. 2013

Chemistry An Asian Journal

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In this work, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed to characterize the elastic properties of a living suspension of Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Bright Yellow (BY-2) cells and to investigate the changes in plant-cell elasticity that were induced by water-soluble C70 fullerene derivatives. The results revealed different effects of the three fullerene derivatives that had different numbers of carboxylic groups on the cell elasticity. BY-2 cells that were repressed by dimalonic-acid-modified C70 fullerenes (DiF70) and trimalonic-acid-modified C70 fullerenes (TriF70) showed a clear decrease in their Young's modulus. However, the Young's modulus of cells that were treated with tetramalonic-acid-modified C70 fullerenes (TetraF70) increased. Disruption of the actin cytoskeleton arrangement was observed following treatment with DiF70 and TriF70, but not with TetraF70. Moreover, the fullerene-induced cell-elasticity change was consistent with the change in cell-proliferation rate. This work provides a new approach and valuable information for the study of the biological effect of nanomaterials on plant cells.

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Passive and active single-cell biomechanics: a new perspective in cancer diagnosis

Cited by 38 publications

References 81 publications

In-vitro sensing of biomechanical forces in live cells by a whispering gallery mode biosensor

In-vitro sensing of biomechanical forces in live cells by a whispering gallery mode biosensor

A frequency-based hypothesis for mechanically targeting and selectively attacking cancer cells

Atomic Force Microscopy Study of the Effects of Water‐Soluble Fullerenes on the Elasticity of Living Plant Cells

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