Mechanical properties of the surface of gastric epithelial cells in patients with oncologic pathology

Objective: to study the efficiency of the application of atomic force microscopy for the identification of differences in the structural and mechanical properties of gastric epithelial cells in normal conditions and in gastric cancer. Material and methods. The structural and mechanical properties of the membrane of the epithelial cells of the gastric mucosa in 7 patients with gastric cancer were assessed using atomic force microscopy in contact mode. Results. The comparison of the size and shape of gastric mucous cells (GLC), their healthy and tumor areas has showed that in both the cases they have a slightly elongated rounded shape and similar dimensions: length × width × height of the cell is norm (in μm): 7.5 × 6.8 × 0.6, and in case of oncologic pathology (in μm): 7.2 × 6.9 × 1.0. Tumor cells are characterized by a 13% increase in their surface roughness compared to normal epithelial cells. The lateral force microscopy method allows of obtaining data on the structure of the submembrane cortical layer of the cell cytoskeleton. According to experimental data, a 2.48-fold decrease in the value of the friction force (Fl) in epithelial cells from healthy areas of the coolant indicates increased density and integrity of the cortical layer of the cytoskeleton in normal conditions compared to those of tumor cells. Conclusion. The analysis of the experimental data has found that tumor cells from the gastric mucosa differ from healthy cells in terms of their nanomechanical properties: they are characterized by a rougher surface, which consists of fewer structural elements of a larger size. The work has showed the interrelation of the indicators of the frictional properties of the cell surface: the values of the friction forces and the roughness of the friction map.