Session T45: Focus Session: Physics of Cancer I

Does Mammographic Density Distribution Correlate with Location of Breast Cancer Tumors?

The risk of breast cancer is higher in women with denser, stiffer breasts. In mammograms, one measure of breast density is mammographic density. Mammograms involve x-rays, and radiodense material is characterized by white areas on a mammogram. The more white areas there are, the higher the mammographic density and the higher the risk of breast cancer. It is also known that most breast tumors occur in the upper half of the breast. Actually, about half of breast tumors occur in the upper outer quadrant of the breast near the armpit. We have analyzed mammograms and find that the mammographic density (white stuff) is higher in the upper half of the breast where there is more tissue.   

Metastatic Breast Cancer Cells Collectively Invade Collagen by Following a Glucose Gradient

We show that MDA-MB-231 metastatic breast cancer cells collectively invade a three dimensional collagen matrix by following a glucose gradient. We observe that due to the 3D physical deformation of the matrix, as measured by the displacement of reporter beads within the matrix, there exists a long range deformation mechanical field inside the matrix which serves to couple the motions of the invading metastatic cell. The invasion front of the cells is a dynamic one, with different cells assuming the lead on a time scale of 24 hours due to certain cells having higher speeds of penetration, which are not sustained. The front cell leadership is dynamic presumably due to metabolic costs associated with the long range strain field which proceeds the invading cell front, which we have imaged using confocal imaging and marker beads imbedded in the collagen matrix.   

On physical changes on surface of human cervical epithelial cells during cancer transformations

Physical changes of the cell surface of cells during transformation from normal to cancerous state are rather poorly studied. Here we describe our recent studies of such changes done on human cervical epithelial cells during their transformation from normal through infected with human papillomavirus type-16 (HPV-16), immortalized (precancerous), to cancerous cells. The changes were studied with the help of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and through the measurement of physical adhesion of fluorescent silica beads to the cell surface. Based on the adhesion experiments, we clearly see the difference in nonspecific adhesion which occurs at the stage of immortalization of cells, precancerous cells. The analysis done with the help of AFM shows that the difference observed comes presumably from the alteration of the cellular ``brush,'' a layer that surrounds cells and which consists of mostly microvilli, microridges, and glycocalyx. Further AFM analysis reveals the emergence of fractal scaling behavior on the surface of cells when normal cells turn into cancerous. The possible causes and potential significance of these observations will be discussed.   

Cancer Progression and Tumor Growth Kinetics

We present and analyze tumor growth data from prostate and brain cancer. Scaling the data from different patients shows that early stage prostate tumors show non-exponential growth while advanced prostate and brain tumors enter a stage of exponential growth. The scaling analysis points to the existence of cancer stem cells and/or massive apoptosis in early stage prostate cancer and that late stage cancer growth is not dominated by cancer stem cells. Statistical models of these two growth modes are discussed.   

Micropost microenvironments for studying luminal-basal lineage commitment of breast cancer cells

MCF-7 breast cancer cells were plated onto polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microposts in order to examine the effects of the microenvironment on cell lineage. Different stiffnesses and sizes of the microposts are postulated to impact cell surface marker expression levels. We will provide preliminary results analyzing CD271 and focal adhesion markers such as vinculin. 3D shear flow will also be applied to the microposts to study how external mechanical stimuli affect cancer cells within their microenvironment.   

Minimizing Platelet Activation-Induced Clogging in Deterministic Lateral Displacement Arrays for High-Throughput Capture of Circulating Tumor Cells

Deterministic lateral displacement arrays have been used to separate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from diluted whole blood at flow rates up to 10 mL/min (K. Loutherback et al., AIP Advances, 2012). However, the throughput is limited to 2 mL equivalent volume of undiluted whole blood due to clogging of the array. Since the concentration of CTCs can be as low as 1-10 cells/mL in clinical samples, processing larger volumes of blood is necessary for diagnostic and analytical applications. We have identified platelet activation by the micro-post array as the primary cause of this clogging. In this talk, we (i) show that clogging occurs at the beginning of the micro-post array and not in the injector channels because both acceleration and deceleration in fluid velocity are required for clogging to occur, and (ii) demonstrate how reduction in platelet concentration and decrease in platelet contact time within the device can be used in combination to achieve a 10x increase in the equivalent volume of undiluted whole blood processed. Finally, we discuss experimental efforts to separate the relative contributions of contact activated coagulation and shear-induced platelet activation to clogging and approaches to minimize these, such as surface treatment and post geometry design.   

Mechanical phenotyping of tumor cells using a microfluidic cell squeezer device

Studies have indicated that cancer cells have distinct mechanical properties compared to healthy cells. We are investigating the potential of cell mechanics as a biophysical marker for diagnostics and prognosis of cancer. To establish the significance of mechanical properties for cancer diagnostics, a high throughput method is desired. Although techniques such as atomic force microscopy are very precise, they are limited in throughput for cellular mechanical property measurements. To develop a device for high throughput mechanical characterization of tumor cells, we have fabricated a microfludic cell squeezer device that contains narrow micrometer-scale pores. Fluid flow is used to drive cells into these pores mimicking the flow-induced passage of circulating tumor cells through microvasculature. By integrating high speed imaging, the device allows for the simultaneous characterization of five different parameters including the blockage pressure, cell velocity, cell size, elongation and the entry time into squeezer. We have tested a variety of in vitro cell lines, including brain and prostate cancer cell lines, and have found that the entry time is the most sensitive measurement capable of differentiating between cell lines with differing invasiveness.   

Quantifying stretching and rearrangement in epithelial sheet migration

Although understanding the collective migration of cells, such as that seen in epithelial sheets, is essential for understanding diseases such as metastatic cancer, this motion is not yet as well characterized as individual cell migration. Here we adapt quantitative metrics used to characterize the flow and deformation of soft matter to contrast different types of motion within a migrating sheet of cells. Using a Finite-Time Lyapunov Exponent (FTLE) analysis, we find that - in spite of large fluctuations - the flow field of an epithelial cell sheet is not chaotic. Stretching of a sheet of cells (i.e., positive FTLE) is localized at the leading edge of migration. By decomposing the motion of the cells into affine and non-affine components using the metric D$^{2}_{min}$, we quantify local plastic rearrangements and describe the motion of a group of cells in a novel way. We find an increase in plastic rearrangements with increasing cell densities, whereas inanimate systems tend to exhibit less non-affine rearrangements with increasing density.   

Role of Inflammation and Substrate Stiffness in Cancer Cell Transmigration

Cancer metastasis, the ability for cancer cells to break away from the primary tumor site and spread to other organs of the body, is one of the main contributing factors to the deadliness of the disease. One of the rate-limiting steps in cancer metastasis that is not well understood is the adhesion of tumor cells to the endothelium followed by transmigration. Other factors include substrate stiffness and inflammation. To test these parameters, we designed an in vitro model of transendothelial migration. Our results suggest that cancer cell transmigration is a two-step process in which they first incorporate into the endothelium before migrating through. It was observed that the cumulative fraction of cancer cells that incorporate into the endothelium increases over time. Unlike leukocytes, which can directly transmigrate through the endothelium, cancer cells appear to have a two-step process of transmigration. Our results indicate that inflammation does not act as a signal for cancer cells to localize at specific sites and transmigrate similarly to leukocytes. Cancer cell transmigration also does not vary with substrate stiffness indicating that tissue stiffness may not play a role in cancer's propensity to metastasize to certain tissues.   

A contact line pinning based microfluidic device for modeling intramural and interstitial flows

Fluid flows critically regulate a number of important physiological processes in living systems such as vascular tissue development, immune cell and tumor cell trafficking. However, tools for creating well defined intramural (flow within a vascular tube) and interstitial (flow within a tissue) flows in a physiologically realistic, 3D setting are limited. We will present a contact line pinning based microfluidic platform that is able to create a spatially uniform interstitial flow within a cell embedded biomatrix (type I collagen); and an intramural flow within an engineered vascular tube lined with HUVECs. The created interstitial flow were characterized using a Fluorescence Recovery after Photobleaching (FRAP), to be in the range of 1.2 - 16 $\mu$m/s. The intramural flow was measured using a particle tracking method, to be in the range of 6 - 30 $\mu$m/s. We further demonstrate that interstitial fluid flows modulate breast tumor cell (MDA-MD-231) morphology heterogeneity and plasticity. We will also discuss the influence of fluid flow on cancer cell migration.   

The cytotoxic effects of titanium oxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles oh Human Cervical Adenocarcinoma cell membranes

The importance of titanium dioxide (TiO$_{2})$ and zinc oxide (ZnO), inorganic metal oxides nanoparticles (NPs) stems from their ubiquitous applications in personal care products, solar cells and food whitening agents. Hence, these NPs come in direct contact with the skin, digestive tracts and are absorbed into human tissues. Currently, TiO$_{2}$ and ZnO are considered safe commercial ingredients by the material safety data sheets with no reported evidence of carcinogenicity or ecotoxicity, and do not classify either NP as a toxic substance. This study examined the direct effects of TiO$_{2}$ and ZnO on HeLa cells, a human cervical adenocarcinonma cell line, and their membrane mechanics. The whole cell patch-clamp technique was used in addition to immunohistochemistry staining, TEM and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Additionally, we examined the effects of dexamethasone (DXM), a glucocorticoid steroid known to have an effect on cell membrane mechanics. Overall, TiO$_{2}$ and ZnO seemed to have an adverse effect on cell membrane mechanics by effecting cell proliferation, altering cellular structure, decreasing cell-cell adhesion, activating existing ion channels, increasing membrane permeability, and possibly disrupting cell signaling.   

Cell stiffness is a biomarker of the metastatic potential of ovarian cancer cells

The metastatic potential of cells is an important parameter in the design of optimal strategies for the personalized treatment of cancer. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM), we show that ovarian cancer cells are generally softer and display lower intrinsic variability in cell stiffness than non-malignant ovarian epithelial cells. A detailed study of highly invasive ovarian cancer cells (HEY A8) and their less invasive parental cells (HEY), demonstrates that deformability can serve as an accurate biomarker of metastatic potential. Comparative gene expression profiling indicate that the reduced stiffness of highly metastatic HEY A8 cells is associated with actin cytoskeleton remodeling, microscopic examination of actin fiber structure in these cell lines is consistent with this prediction. Our results indicate that cell stiffness not only distinguishes ovarian cancer cells from non-malignant cells, but may also be a useful biomarker to evaluate the relative metastatic potential of ovarian and perhaps other types of cancer cells.