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Review
. 2021 Apr 13;10(4):887.
doi: 10.3390/cells10040887.

Biomechanical Properties of Cancer Cells

Gaël Runel  1   2 , Noémie Lopez-Ramirez  1 , Julien Chlasta  2 , Ingrid Masse  1
Affiliations
Review

Biomechanical Properties of Cancer Cells

Gaël Runel et al. Cells. .

Abstract

Since the crucial role of the microenvironment has been highlighted, many studies have been focused on the role of biomechanics in cancer cell growth and the invasion of the surrounding environment. Despite the search in recent years for molecular biomarkers to try to classify and stratify cancers, much effort needs to be made to take account of morphological and nanomechanical parameters that could provide supplementary information concerning tissue complexity adaptation during cancer development. The biomechanical properties of cancer cells and their surrounding extracellular matrix have actually been proposed as promising biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. The present review first describes the main methods used to study the mechanical properties of cancer cells. Then, we address the nanomechanical description of cultured cancer cells and the crucial role of the cytoskeleton for biomechanics linked with cell morphology. Finally, we depict how studying interaction of tumor cells with their surrounding microenvironment is crucial to integrating biomechanical properties in our understanding of tumor growth and local invasion.

Keywords: biomarker; biomechanics; cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of main techniques used to study cell or tissue biomechanical properties.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of cell stiffness, viscoelasticity and deformability properties. (a) For a given applied force, a larger indentation is observed for the softer cell. (b) A cell quickly recovers its original shape after indentation with small hysteresis for a more pronounced elastic behavior. Larger hysteresis is observed for a more viscous behavior. (c) The capacity of the cell to penetrate a thin capillary allows its deformability to be determined.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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