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Mechanical characterization of cervical squamous carcinoma cells by atomic force microscopy at nanoscale

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Abstract

To investigate the nanoscale mechanical properties of exfoliated cervical epithelial cells from patients to further reveal the pathogenesis of cervical cancer and help early diagnose. Exfoliated cells were collected from nine patients with chronic cervicitis or CIN1(control group), 30 patients with CIN2–3 (CIN 2–3 group), and 13 patients with cervical cancer (cervical cancer group). Stiffness of the cells was determined by atomic force microscope (AFM). Expression of P16INK4A was studied by immunocytochemistry. Environmental scanning electron microscopy was performed to observe the surface microtopography of the exfoliated cells. Young’s modulus was measured for cells exfoliated from control and patients with CIN 2–3 and cervical cancer by AFM. The results showed that with increasing cervical lesions, the Young’s modulus of the exfoliated cervical cells increased (P < 0.05). The modulus of the exfoliated cells was significantly decreased in the three patients 1 year after the surgery compared with the value before the surgery. Expression of P16INK4A in the exfoliated cells had not been statistically significant. Squamous cells from cervical cancer group had dense and disordered microvilli without clear microridges compare to other groups. The Young’s modulus is increased from the control group, to CIN2–3 and cervical cancer groups, suggesting that the stiffness of cervical epithelial cells increases gradually with increasing cervical lesions. The changes in the mechanical properties of the exfoliated cells occur earlier than the changes in cell morphology. Therefore, analysis of mechanical properties of the exfoliated cells may be used to aid early diagnosis of the cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81472429) and National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2013CB933702).

Conflict of interest

There is also no conflict of interest involved in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, 100191, China

    Yong-xia Ding, Yuan Cheng, Ke You, Yan-li Guo & Li Geng

  2. Lab for Biological Imaging and Nanomedicine, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China

    Quan-mei Sun & Dong Han

  3. Institute of Vascular Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital and Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Molecular Biology and Regulatory Peptide, Ministry of Health, Beijing, 100191, China

    You-yi Zhang

Authors
  1. Yong-xia Ding
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  2. Yuan Cheng
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  3. Quan-mei Sun
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  4. You-yi Zhang
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  5. Ke You
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  6. Yan-li Guo
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  7. Dong Han
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  8. Li Geng
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Dong Han or Li Geng.

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Yong-xia Ding and Yuan Cheng are Co-first authors.

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Ding, Yx., Cheng, Y., Sun, Qm. et al. Mechanical characterization of cervical squamous carcinoma cells by atomic force microscopy at nanoscale. Med Oncol 32, 71 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-015-0507-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-015-0507-0

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