Open AccessQuantitative analysis of the cell‐surface roughness and viscoelasticity for breast cancer cells discrimination using atomic force microscopy
Author(s) -
Wang Yuhua,
Xu Chaoxian,
Jiang Ningcheng,
Zheng Liqin,
Zeng Jinshu,
Qiu Caimin,
Yang Hongqin,
Xie Shusen
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
scanning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.359
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1932-8745
pISSN - 0161-0457
DOI - 10.1002/sca.21300
Subject(s) - viscoelasticity , breast cancer , atomic force microscopy , surface finish , elasticity (physics) , cell , materials science , cancer cell , surface roughness , cell mechanics , cancer , biophysics , microscopy , biomedical engineering , nanotechnology , pathology , medicine , chemistry , cytoskeleton , composite material , biology , biochemistry
Summary Breast cancer has been one of the most common malignant tumors threatening female health with high incidence. Cell mechanics is becoming an important issue and could serves as a potential indicator for early cancer diagnosis. In this study, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was applied to characterize and compare the surface nanostructure and viscoelasticity of different breast cell lines. Our results show that breast cancerous cells MCF‐7 exhibit more disorganized filamentous cytoskeleton structure with increased membrane roughness compared to benign breast cells MCF‐10A ( P < 0.05). The viscoelastic properties, including elasticity and viscosity, are significantly different between the two cell lines. MCF‐7 displays reduced elasticity and viscosity, indicating that breast cancer cells are softer and more fluid than benign counterpart. Our findings provide new insights into the biophysical changes of cells during tumor transformation and suggest it could be used for early cancer detection at single cell level. SCANNING 38:558–563, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.