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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 6: Poster I

BP 6.35: Poster

Montag, 1. April 2019, 17:30–19:30, Poster B2

Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT)-induced changes of cortical contractility and stiffness in breast epithelial cells — •Kamran Hosseini and Elisabeth Fischer-Friedrich — Biotechnology center of TU Dresden (Biotec), Dresden, Germany

Cancer cells have been reported to show a softer phenotype. At the same time, it has been speculated that invasive cancer cells are particularly contractile. Epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been previously identified as a key process in cancer progression and metastasis, suggesting that EMT reduces cell stiffness and enhances cell contractility. To test this hypothesis, we probed breast epithelial cells mechanically before and after chemically induced epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). We uniaxially compressed isolated suspended cells in a parallel plate confinement assay using an atomic force microscope in conjunction with a wedged cantilever. In this way, we measured cortical contractility and cortical stiffness. We find that cell stiffness is decreasing jointly with cortical contractility through EMT in suspended cells.