title: Selective measurement and manipulation of adhesion forces between cancer cells and bone marrow endothelial cells using atomic force microscopy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The lack of understanding of the biology of bone cancer metastasis has limited the development of effective treatment strategies. The aim of this study was to characterize tumor cell adhesion molecules and determine active tumor cell interactions with human bone marrow endothelial (BME) cells using atomic force microscopy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A single prostate (PC3) cancer cell was coupled (concanavalin A) to the atomic force microscopy cantilever then placed in contact with BME cells for cell force spectroscopy measurements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Strong adhesive interactions between PC3 and BME cells were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced by anti-ICAM-1, anti-β1 and anti-P-selectin, but not anti-VCAM-1. The combined blocking antibodies or the therapeutic agent zoledronic acid significantly (p < 0.005) reduced the adhesive interactions by 65 and 63%, respectively, which was confirmed using a functional in vitro assay.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Atomic force microscopy provides a highly sensitive screening assay to determine and quantify nanoscale adhesion events between different cell types important in the metastatic cascade.
authors.affiliation: Microcirculation Research Group, Department of Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Sheffield, S10 2RX, UK.
authors.forename: Kimberley J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Reeves
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Higham
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jerome P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Trzeciakowski
authors.forename: Gerald A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Meininger
authors.forename: Nicola J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D002465:Cell Movement; D004548:Elasticity; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D019012:Integrin beta1 / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D019007:P-Selectin / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology; D011467:Prostate / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D019012:Integrin beta1; D019007:P-Selectin; D019010:Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; D018799:Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1