Quantitative analysis of dynamic adhesion properties in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells with fullerenol.
In this study, the effect of fullerenol (C60(OH)24) on the cellular dynamic biomechanical behaviors of living human hepatocellular carcinoma (SMCC-7721) cancer cells were investigated by atomic force microscope (AFM) nanoindentation. As an important biomarker of cellular information, the cell adhesion is essential to maintain proper functioning as well as links with the pathogenesis and canceration. Nonetheless, it is challenging to properly evaluate the complex adhesion properties as all the biomechanical parameters interfere with each other. To investigate the dynamic adhesion changes, especially in the case of the fullerenol treatment, the detachment force and work, adhesion events, and membrane tether properties were measured and analyzed systematically with the proposed quantitative method. The statistical analyses suggest that, under the same operating parameters of AFM, the dependence of adhesion energy on the tip-cell contact area is weakened after the fullerenol treatment and the probability of adhesion decreases significantly from 30.6% to 4.2%. In addition, the disruption of the cytoskeleton resulted in a 34% decrease of the average membrane tether force and a 21% increase of the average tether length. Benefiting from the quantitative method, this work contributes to revealing the effects of fullerenol on the cellular biomechanical properties of the living SMCC-7721 cells in a precise and rigorous way and additionally is further instructive to interpret the interaction mechanism of other potential nanomedicines with living cells.
International Research Centre for Nano Handling & Manufacturing of China (CNM), Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China.
Yang
Y
Liu
International Research Centre for Nano Handling & Manufacturing of China (CNM), Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China. Electronic address: wangz@cust.edu.cn.
Zuobin
Z
Wang
International Research Centre for Nano Handling & Manufacturing of China (CNM), Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China.
Xinyue
X
Wang
The 4th Medical College, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Yanhong
Y
Huang
D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology; D004548:Elasticity; D037741:Fullerenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D037741:Fullerenes; C108127:fullerenol
Adhesion strength; Atomic force microscope (AFM); Elasticity; Fullerenol; Membrane tether; SMCC-7721 cell