title: Nanomechanical analysis of pigmented human melanoma cells.
abstract: Based on hitherto measurements of elasticity of various cells in vitro and ex vivo, cancer cells are generally believed to be much softer than their normal counterparts. In spite of significant research efforts on the elasticity of cancer cells, only few studies were undertaken with melanoma cells. However, there are no reports concerning pigmented melanoma cells. Here, we report for the first time on the elasticity of pigmented human melanoma cells. The obtained data show that melanin significantly increases the stiffness of pigmented melanoma cells and that the effect depends on the amount of melanin inside the cells. The dramatic impact of melanin on the nanomechanical properties of cells puts into question widely accepted paradigm about all cancer cells being softer than their normal counterparts. Our findings reveal significant limitations of the nanodiagnosis approach for melanoma and contribute to better understanding of cell elasticity.
authors: Department of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow, Poland. michal.sarna@fis.agh.edu.pl
authors: Michal
authors: M
authors: Sarna
authors: Andrzej
authors: A
authors: Zadlo
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Pilat
authors: Magdalena
authors: M
authors: Olchawa
authors: Paraskevi
authors: P
authors: Gkogkolou
authors: Kvetoslava
authors: K
authors: Burda
authors: Markus
authors: M
authors: Böhm
authors: Tadeusz
authors: T
authors: Sarna
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004548:Elasticity; D004578:Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy; D006801:Humans; D008543:Melanins / Q000378:metabolism; D008545:Melanoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010858:Pigmentation
chemical_list: D008543:Melanins
keywords: atomic force microscopy; melanin; nanodiagnosis; nanomechanical analysis; pigmented melanoma