Mechanical properties of the surface of gastric epithelial cells in patients with oncologic pathology

Objective: to study the efficiency of the application of atomic force microscopy for the identification of differences in the structural and mechanical properties of gastric epithelial cells in normal conditions and in gastric cancer.

Material and methods. The structural and mechanical properties of the membrane of the epithelial cells of the gastric mucosa in 7 patients with gastric cancer were assessed using atomic force microscopy in contact mode.

Results. The comparison of the size and shape of gastric mucous cells (GLC), their healthy and tumor areas has showed that in both the cases they have a slightly elongated rounded shape and similar dimensions: length × width × height of the cell is norm (in μm): 7.5 × 6.8 × 0.6, and in case of oncologic pathology (in μm): 7.2 × 6.9 × 1.0. Tumor cells are characterized by a 13% increase in their surface roughness compared to normal epithelial cells. The lateral force microscopy method allows of obtaining data on the structure of the submembrane cortical layer of the cell cytoskeleton. According to experimental data, a 2.48-fold decrease in the value of the friction force (Fl) in epithelial cells from healthy areas of the coolant indicates increased density and integrity of the cortical layer of the cytoskeleton in normal conditions compared to those of tumor cells.

Conclusion. The analysis of the experimental data has found that tumor cells from the gastric mucosa differ from healthy cells in terms of their nanomechanical properties: they are characterized by a rougher surface, which consists of fewer structural elements of a larger size. The work has showed the interrelation of the indicators of the frictional properties of the cell surface: the values of the friction forces and the roughness of the friction map.

1. World Health Organization. (2018). World health statistics 2018: monitoring health for the SDGs, sustainable development goals. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/272596

2. Rak: informatsionnyy byuleten' VOZ [Elektronnyy detektiv]. [Data obrashcheniya: 28 yanv. 2021]. Rezhim dostupa: (In Russ.). https://www.who.int/ru/newsroom/fact-sheets/detail/cancer

3. Algoritm diagnostiki i lecheniya zlokachestvennykh novoobrazovaniy. Klinicheskiy protocol. Ministerstvo zdravookhraneniya Respubliki Belarus', Minsk, Belarus': Professional'nye izdaniya; 2019. p 97 (In Russ).

4. Zhao Y, Zhang TB, Bao CH, Chen XY, Wang Y, Wang Q. Physical properties of gastrointestinal stromal tumors based on atomic force microscope analysis. Genet Mol Res. 2013;12:5774-5785. https://doi.org/10.4238/2013.November.22.4

5. Starodubceva MN. Parametry arhitektoniki ASM-kart poverhnosti jepitelial'nyh kletok karcinomy molochnoj zhelezy MCF-7. Health and Ecology Issues. 2017;4:60-65. (In Russ). https://journal.gsmu.by/jour/article/view/1839

6. Shaforost AS, Voropaev EV, Starodubceva MN, Achinovich SL. Metod issledovaniya nanomexanicheskix svojstv kletok e'piteliya zheludka s ispol'zovaniem atomnosilovoj mikroskopii. Aktual'nye problemy mediciny, vol. 4, Gomel': 2019, p. 144–7. (In Russ).

7. Li Q, Kim K-S, Rydberg A. Lateral force calibration of an atomic force microscope with a diamagnetic levitation spring system. Review of Scientific Instruments 2006; 77: 065105-1-13. https://doi.org/ 10.1063 / 1.2209953.

8. Voropaev EV, Shaforost AS. Nanomexanicheskie svojstva poverxnosti kletok e'piteliya slizistoj obolochki u pacientov s rakom zheludka. Perspektivi rozvitku suchasnoї nauki ta osvіti (chastina І), L'vіv: 2020, p. 48–50. (In Russ).

9. Wang Y, Xu C, Jiang N, Zheng L, Zeng J, Qiu C, et al. Quantitative analysis of the cell-surface roughness and viscoelasticity for breast cancer cells discrimination using atomic force microscopy. Scanning. 2016;38:558–63. https://doi.org/ 10.1002 / sca.21300

10. Kolwankar KM, Karle NN. A simple method to estimate fractal dimension of mountain surfaces. ArXiv: 14122747 [Physics] 2014. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1412.2747.pdf (accessed January 29, 2021).