title: Modeling cell entry into a micro-channel.
abstract: Cell entry into a micro-channel has potential applications in cell sorting and cancer diagnostics. In this paper, we numerically model breast cancer cell entry into a constricted micro-channel. Our results indicate that the cell velocity decreases during entry and increases after entry, an observation in agreement with experiments. We found that the cell entry time depend strongly on the cortical stiffness and is minimum at some critical cortical elasticity. In addition, we found that for the same entry time, a stiff nucleus is displaced toward the cell front, whereas a viscous nucleus is displaced toward the rear. In comparison, the nucleus is less sensitive to the viscosity of the cytoplasm. These observations suggest that specific intra-cellular properties can be deduced non-invasively during cell entry, through the inspection of the nucleus using suitable illumination techniques, such as fluorescent labeling.
authors.affiliation: A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing, 1 Fusionopolis Way, #16-16 Connexis, Singapore, 138632, Singapore.
authors.forename: Fong Yew
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Leong
authors.forename: Qingsen
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chwee Teck
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Keng-Hwee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chiam
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D014783:Viscosity