Toward the realization of reproducible Atomic Force Microscopy measurements of elastic modulus in biological samples

Demichelis, Alessia; Divieto, Carla; Mortati, Leonardo; Pavarelli, Stefano; Sassi, Guido; Sassi, Maria Paola

doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2015.01.023

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Even though data in the literature is not yet fully conclusive, there is increasing evidence that individual zinc status is related to CRC risk [37], thus differences in the zinc status of healthy tissue and tumorous tissue can occur and have to be taken into account when monitoring the biomechanical properties of cancerous cells. Among these parameters, the elasticity of cells is discussed to be the most suitable biomarker for cancer [66]. Estimated elastic moduli in this study are in the same order of magnitude as expected for eukaryotic cells, varying between several hundred Pascal to 10 kPa [3,25], and are comparable to previous studies on cancerous cells with different tissue origins [8].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…The differing biomechanics of the two CRC cell lines emphasize their relevance for comprehensively screening various CRC cells [77] by using AFM to identify and characterize nanomechanical fingerprints for tumor diagnostics. This requires using standardized and reproducible experimental conditions [66], as well as considering the impact of the extracellular matrix of CRC biopsies [21] on their mechanical properties, which needs to be incorporated into the identification and validation process of biomechanical markers for CRC. To distinguish between the impact of individual cancer and of zinc status on the mechanical behavior of cells, it is important to additionally screen zinc-adequate colon cells from non-pathological colon tissues, which can be achieved using primary colon cells [78].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Time- and Zinc-Related Changes in Biomechanical Properties of Human Colorectal Cancer Cells Examined by Atomic Force Microscopy

Maares

Keil

Löher

et al. 2020

Biology

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Monitoring biomechanics of cells or tissue biopsies employing atomic force microscopy (AFM) offers great potential to identify diagnostic biomarkers for diseases, such as colorectal cancer (CRC). Data on the mechanical properties of CRC cells, however, are still scarce. There is strong evidence that the individual zinc status is related to CRC risk. Thus, this study investigates the impact of differing zinc supply on the mechanical response of the in vitro CRC cell lines HT-29 and HT-29-MTX during their early proliferation (24–96 h) by measuring elastic modulus, relaxation behavior, and adhesion factors using AFM. The differing zinc supply severely altered the proliferation of these cells and markedly affected their mechanical properties. Accordingly, zinc deficiency led to softer cells, quantitatively described by 20–30% lower Young’s modulus, which was also reflected by relevant changes in adhesion and rupture event distribution compared to those measured for the respective zinc-adequate cultured cells. These results demonstrate that the nutritional zinc supply severely affects the nanomechanical response of CRC cell lines and highlights the relevance of monitoring the zinc content of cancerous cells or biopsies when studying their biomechanics with AFM in the future.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Time- and Zinc-Related Changes in Biomechanical Properties of Human Colorectal Cancer Cells Examined by Atomic Force Microscopy

Maares

Keil

Löher

et al. 2020

Biology

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“…This asks for standardization protocols that could be widely applied, and that could deliver a reference set of samples produced independently in various laboratories. One of the first approaches tackling this issue has been proposed in 2015 by Demichelis et al [ 45 ]. In this work, the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) material has been used to produce samples with the stiffness range of 50–5000 kPa.…”

Section: Relativeness Of Young’s Modulusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discrimination Between Normal and Cancerous Cells Using AFM

2016

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Currently, biomechanics of living cells is in the focus of interest due to noticeable capability of such techniques like atomic force microscopy (AFM) to probe cellular properties at the single cell level directly on living cells. The research carried out, so far, delivered data showing, on the one hand, the use of cellular mechanics as a biomarker of various pathological changes, which, on the other hand, reveal relative nature of biomechanics. In the AFM, the elastic properties of living cells are delivered from indentation experiments and described quantitatively by Young’s modulus defined here as a measure of cellular deformability. Here, the AFM studies directly comparing the mechanical properties of normal and cancerous cells are summarized and presented together with a few important issues related to the relativeness of Young’s modulus.

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“…A conventional method to determine cellular elastic modulus is to fit the force-displacement curve obtained from AFM indentation with Hertz contact model (Demichelis, et al, 2015). When an AFM indenter approaches a cell, the molecules (atoms) of the two surfaces interact mainly by Van Der Waals forces and hence the adhesion force is inevitable in cell-indenter interaction.…”

Section: Theoretical Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%