A study of molecular adsorption of a cationic surfactant on complex surfaces with atomic force microscopy

Nanomechanics of self-assembled surfactants revealed by frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy

Surfactants play a critical role in bottom-up nanotechnologies due to their peculiar nature of controlling the interfacial energy. Since their operational mechanism originates from the molecular-scale formation and disruption processes of molecular assemblies (i.e., micelles), conventional static-mode atomic force microscopy has made a significant contribution to unravel the detailed molecular pictures. Recently, we have successfully developed a local solvation measurement technique based on three-dimensional frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy, whose spatial resolution is not limited by jump-to-contact. Here, using this novel technique, we investigate molecular nanomechanics in the formation and disruption processes of micelles formed on a hydrophobic surface. Furthermore, an experiment employing a hetero-nanostructure reveals that the nanomechanics depends on the form of the molecular assembly. Namely, the hemifusion and disruption processes are peculiar to the micellar surface and cause a higher energy dissipation than the monolayer surface. The technique established in this study will be used as a generic technology for further development of bottom-up nanotechnologies.

Loss of NECTIN1 triggers melanoma dissemination upon local IGF1 depletion

Cancer genetics has uncovered many tumor-suppressor and oncogenic pathways, but few alterations have revealed mechanisms involved in tumor spreading. Here, we examined the role of the third most significant chromosomal deletion in human melanoma that inactivates the adherens junction gene NECTIN1 in 55% of cases. We found that NECTIN1 loss stimulates melanoma cell migration in vitro and spreading in vivo in both zebrafish and human tumors specifically in response to decreased IGF1 signaling. In human melanoma biopsy specimens, adherens junctions were seen exclusively in areas with low IGF1 levels, but not in NECTIN1-deficient tumors. Our study establishes NECTIN1 as a major determinant of melanoma dissemination and uncovers a genetic control of the response to microenvironmental signals.

Difference in biophysical properties of cancer-initiating cells in melanoma mutated zebrafish

Despite sharing oncogenetic mutations, only a small number of cells within a given tissue will undergo malignant transformation. Biochemical and physical factors responsible for this cancer-initiation process are not well understood. Here we study biophysical differences of pre-melanoma and melanoma cells in a BRAF^V600E/P53 zebrafish model. The AFM indentation technique was used to study the cancer-initiating cells while the surrounding melanocytes were the control. We observed a statistically significant decrease in the modulus of elasticity (the effective Young's modulus) of cancer-initiating cells compared to the surrounding melanocytes. No significant differences in the pericellular coat surrounding cells were observed. These results contribute to a better understanding of the factors responsible for the initiation of cancer.

Nanoscale compositional mapping of cells, tissues, and polymers with ringing mode of atomic force microscopy

Recently developed sub-resonance tapping modes (such as Digital Pulse, Peak Force Tapping, HybriD, etc.) of atomic force microscopy (AFM) allow imaging of compositional contrast of (bio)materials and biological cells down to the nanoscale. Here we report on a powerful extension of those modes, “ringing” mode, which more than doubles the number of non-trivial physical channels that can be collected with a regular sub-resonance tapping. It can simultaneously record five new additional compositional parameters related to adhesive and viscoelastic properties of the sample surface: the restored (averaged) adhesion, adhesion height, pull-off neck height, detachment distance, and detachment energy losses. Ringing mode can be up to 20 times faster and showing fewer artifacts compared to the existing sub-resonance tapping modes. Ringing mode is based on an analysis of ringing signal of the AFM cantilever after detaching the AFM probe from the sample surface (this signal is currently treated as noise, and typically filtered out in the existing modes). We demonstrate that this new mode allows recording robust and unique information on fixed human epithelial cells, corneocyte skin flakes, and polymers used for bioimplants.

Pericellular Brush and Mechanics of Guinea Pig Fibroblast Cells Studied with AFM

The atomic force microscopy (AFM) indentation method combined with the brush model can be used to separate the mechanical response of the cell body from deformation of the pericellular layer surrounding biological cells. Although self-consistency of the brush model to derive the elastic modulus of the cell body has been demonstrated, the model ability to characterize the pericellular layer has not been explicitly verified. Here we demonstrate it by using enzymatic removal of hyaluronic content of the pericellular brush for guinea pig fibroblast cells. The effect of this removal is clearly seen in the AFM force-separation curves associated with the pericellular brush layer. We further extend the brush model for brushes larger than the height of the AFM probe, which seems to be the case for fibroblast cells. In addition, we demonstrate that an extension of the brush model (i.e., double-brush model) is capable of detecting the hierarchical structure of the pericellular brush, which, for example, may consist of the pericellular coat and the membrane corrugation (microridges and microvilli). It allows us to quantitatively segregate the large soft polysaccharide pericellular coat from a relatively rigid and dense membrane corrugation layer. This was verified by comparison of the parameters of the membrane corrugation layer derived from the force curves collected on untreated cells (when this corrugation membrane part is hidden inside the pericellular brush layer) and on treated cells after the enzymatic removal of the pericellular coat part (when the corrugations are exposed to the AFM probe). We conclude that the brush model is capable of not only measuring the mechanics of the cell body but also the parameters of the pericellular brush layer, including quantitative characterization of the pericellular layer structure.