Mechanical Stiffness Grades Metastatic Potential in Patient Tumor Cells and in Cancer Cell Lines
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · Duke University · +2 more institutions
Abstract
Cancer cells are defined by their ability to invade through the basement membrane, a critical step during metastasis. While increased secretion of proteases, which facilitates degradation of the basement membrane, and alterations in the cytoskeletal architecture of cancer cells have been previously studied, the contribution of the mechanical properties of cells in invasion is unclear. Here, we applied a magnetic tweezer system to establish that stiffness of patient tumor cells and cancer cell lines inversely correlates with migration and invasion through three-dimensional basement membranes, a correlation known as a power law. We found that cancer cells with the highest migratory and invasive potential are…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 10.69
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 20
Authors
6- VSVinay Swaminathan
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, Duke Medical Center, Duke University Hospital
- KMKarthikeyan Mythreye
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, Duke Medical Center, Duke University Hospital
- ETE. Tim O’Brien
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, Duke Medical Center, Duke University Hospital
- ABAndrew Berchuck
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, Duke Medical Center, Duke University Hospital
- GCGerard C. BlobeCorresponding
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, Duke Medical Center, Duke University Hospital
Topics & keywords
- Cancer cell
- Metastasis
- Basement membrane
- Myosin
- Cancer
- Invadopodia
- Cell
- Biology