Effect of capillary constriction forces in the transcriptomics of MDA-MB-231, LM2 and MCF-10A directly after transiting constrictions.
During metastatic dissemination, circulating tumour cells (CTCs) enter capillary beds, where they experience mechanical constriction forces. A high-throughput microfluidic platform mimicking human capillaries to investigate the impact of mechanical constriction forces on malignant and normal breast cell lines was developed. Cells were collected after transiting the constrictions, followed by RNA extraction and sequencing. The non-malignant cell line experienced transcriptional changes, particularly downregulation of epithelial markers, while the metastatic cell lines showed minimal alterations.