Beilstein J. Nanotechnol.2014,5, 447–457, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.52
microscopy (AFM), it is possible to determine such changes in a quantitative way in order to distinguish cancerous from non-malignant cells. In the work presented here, the elastic properties of human bladdercells were determined by means of AFM. The measurements show that non-malignant bladder HCV29 cells
filaments; atomic force microscopy (AFM); bladdercells; cytoskeleton; elastic properties of cells; malignancy degree of cancer cells; Introduction
During oncogenic progression, many cancer-related alterations change both the internal structures of cells and also their surroundings, i.e., the extracellular
cell mechanics, in particular elasticity, and cancer [5][6]. The first measurements showed that cancerous human bladdercells were softer than non-malignant bladdercells. Further measurements of cancerous cells have confirmed that a lowering of the elastic modulus of the cells is a general feature of