Effects of temperature and cellular interactions on the mechanics and morphology of human cancer cells investigated by atomic force microscopy.
Cell mechanics plays an important role in cellular physiological activities. Recent studies have shown that cellular mechanical properties are novel biomarkers for indicating the cell states. In this article, temperature-controllable atomic force microscopy (AFM) was applied to quantitatively investigate the effects of temperature and cellular interactions on the mechanics and morphology of human cancer cells. First, AFM indenting experiments were performed on six types of human cells to investigate the changes of cellular Young's modulus at different temperatures and the results showed that the mechanical responses to the changes of temperature were variable for different types of cancer cells. Second, AFM imaging experiments were performed to observe the morphological changes in living cells at different temperatures and the results showed the significant changes of cell morphology caused by the alterations of temperature. Finally, by co-culturing human cancer cells with human immune cells, the mechanical and morphological changes in cancer cells were investigated. The results showed that the co-culture of cancer cells and immune cells could cause the distinct mechanical changes in cancer cells, but no significant morphological differences were observed. The experimental results improved our understanding of the effects of temperature and cellular interactions on the mechanics and morphology of cancer cells.
State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
Mi
M
Li
State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China. lqliu@sia.cn.
LianQing
L
Liu
State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China. xin@egr.msu.edu.|Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA. xin@egr.msu.edu.
Ning
N
Xi
State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China.
YueChao
Y
Wang
Department of Lymphoma, Affiliated Hospital of Military Medical Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100071, China.
XiuBin
X
Xiao
Department of Lymphoma, Affiliated Hospital of Military Medical Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100071, China.
WeiJing
W
Zhang
D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D006367:HeLa Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D019169:Jurkat Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D061986:MCF-7 Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D011312:Pressure; D013696:Temperature
D015415:Biomarkers
atomic force microscopy; cancer cell; cellular interactions; mechanics; temperature