AFM study shows prominent physical changes in elasticity and pericellular layer in human acute leukemic cells due to inadequate cell-cell communication Journal Article


Authors: Guz, N. V.; Patel, S. J.; Dokukin, M. E.; Clarkson, B.; Sokolov, I.
Article Title: AFM study shows prominent physical changes in elasticity and pericellular layer in human acute leukemic cells due to inadequate cell-cell communication
Abstract: Biomechanical properties of single cells in vitro or ex vivo and their pericellular interfaces have recently attracted a lot of attention as a potential biophysical (and possibly prognostic) marker of various diseases and cell abnormalities. At the same time, the influence of the cell environment on the biomechanical properties of cells is not well studied. Here we use atomic force microscopy to demonstrate that cell-cell communication can have a profound effect on both cell elasticity and its pericellular coat. A human pre-B p190BCR/ABL acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line (ALL3) was used in this study. Assuming that cell-cell communication is inversely proportional to the distance between cells, we study ALL3 cells in vitro growing at different cell densities. ALL3 cells demonstrate a clear density dependent behavior. These cells grow very well if started at a relatively high cell density (HD, >2 ×105 cells ml-1) and are poised to grow at low cell density (LD, <1 ×104 cells ml-1). Here we observe ∼6× increase in the elastic (Young's) modulus of the cell body and ∼3.6× decrease in the pericellular brush length of LD cells compared to HD ALL3 cells. The difference observed in the elastic modulus is much larger than typically reported for pathologically transformed cells. Thus, cell-cell communication must be taken into account when studying biomechanics of cells, in particular, correlating cell phenotype and its biophysical properties. © 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd.
Keywords: cytology; acute lymphoblastic leukemia; cell culture; diseases; biophysics; cells; cell signaling; single cell analysis; atomic force microscopy; elasticity; biomechanics; cell-cell communication; biophysical properties; cell-cell communications; singlecell analysis; cell mechanics; pericellular coat interface; biomechanical properties; density dependent; high cell density
Journal Title: Nanotechnology
Volume: 27
Issue: 49
ISSN: 0957-4484
Publisher: IOP Publishing Ltd  
Date Published: 2016-11-11
Start Page: 494005
Language: English
DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/27/49/494005
PROVIDER: scopus
PUBMED: 27834315
PMCID: PMC5221648
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 6 December 2016 -- Source: Scopus
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  1. Bayard Clarkson
    220 Clarkson
  2. Sapan J Patel
    10 Patel