Difference in biophysical properties of cancer-initiating cells in melanoma mutated zebrafish.

Difference in biophysical properties of cancer-initiating cells in melanoma mutated zebrafish. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2020 Jul;107:103746 Authors: Makarova N, Kalaparthi V, Wang A, Williams C, Dokukin ME, Kaufman CK, Zon L, Sokolov I Abstract Despite sharing oncogenetic mutations, only a small number of cells within a given tissue will undergo malignant transformation. Biochemical and physical factors responsible for this cancer-initiation process are not well understood. Here we study biophysical differences of pre-melanoma and melanoma cells in a BRAFV600E/P53 zebrafish model. The AFM indentation technique was used to study the cancer-initiating cells while the surrounding melanocytes were the control. We observed a statistically significant decrease in the modulus of elasticity (the effective Young's modulus) of cancer-initiating cells compared to the surrounding melanocytes. No significant differences in the pericellular coat surrounding cells were observed. These results contribute to a better understanding of the factors responsible for the initiation of cancer. PMID: 32364948 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials - Category: Materials Science Authors: Tags: J Mech Behav Biomed Mater Source Type: research