Dresden 2020 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 17: Poster V
BP 17.19: Poster
Tuesday, March 17, 2020, 14:00–16:00, P2/1OG
The role of substrate contacts in 2D and 3D microenvironments for cell mechanical properties — •Venkata Dabbiru1, Emmanual Manu1, Huy Tung Dau1, Nora Bödecker1, Doreen Biedenweg2, Ricardo Pires1, and Oliver Otto1 — 1University of Greifswald, Germany — 2University Medicine Greifswald, Germany
Cells form with their microenvironment a network of biological and physicochemical signals that stem from cell-cell and cell-matrix contacts. Several pathologies including oncological disorders are associated with changes in such contacts but a comparative investigation by different approaches substantiating their relevance towards cell mechanics has, to our knowledge, never been conducted.
Here, we examine the role played by the substrate for the mechanical properties of HEK293T cells grown in 2D monolayers and spheroids as a 3D cell culture model. Experiments are performed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and real-time deformability cytometry (RT-DC) in comparative assays. Our AFM results show that cells cultured in 2D have a Young's modulus that is significantly higher than that of spheroids. Interestingly, when cells are detached from the 2D substrate or the 3D matrix and captured in suspension, they become considerably stiffer. Comparing our AFM data to RT-DC results, which probes cells in suspension, we observe the same increase in elastic modulus independent of cell culture geometry. Our findings suggest, that the mechanical phenotype of adherent cells is to a large extent dominated by the presence of a substrate and less by the dimensionality of the cell environment.