Regensburg 2025 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 15: Cell Mechanics I

BP 15.3: Talk

Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 12:30–12:45, H44

Viscoelasticity of Cancer Cells: New Insights from Magnetic Rotational Spectroscopy — •Jean-François Berret — Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Matière et systèmes complexes, 75013 Paris, France

Cell mechanical properties are linked to tumor progression and can serve as diagnostic biomarkers. Over the past two decades, numerous studies have shown that cancer cells are softer than healthy cells. While the viscoelastic nature of cells is well known, most studies focus on elasticity, with limited attention to viscosity. To address this, we developed Magnetic Rotational Spectroscopy (MRS), an active technique using non-toxic magnetic wires embedded in the cytoplasm and tracked via optical microscopy under a rotating magnetic field. This allows simultaneous measurement of viscosity η and elastic modulus G. MRS studies on 15 human and animal cell lines, both healthy and cancerous, uncovered a new finding: intracellular viscosity increases with wire size following a quadratic η(L)-relationship. Furthermore, in breast epithelial cells, only viscosity, not elasticity, could differentiate cells with low and high metastatic potential. A meta-analysis of literature on cell viscosity, covering whole-cell and intracellular data finally reveals that cancer cells have viscosities about 50% lower than healthy cells, suggesting that cancer cells are not only softer but also more fluid, offering potential for selective diagnostic tools in cell biomechanics. [1] A.M. Markl et al., Cancer Heterog. Plast., (2024). [2] J.-F. Berret, Nat. Commun. 7, 10134 (2016). [3] M. Dessard et al., Nanoscale Adv. 6, 1727 (2024).

Keywords: Microrheology; Breast cancer cells; Metastatic Potential; Magnetic Rotational Spectrometry