2021 Volume 49 Issue 3 Pages 163-170
Acrylamide copolymer-based gel substrates with different viscoelasticity were employed to evaluate the viscoelasticity effect on the direct relation among cancer stemness, cellular motility and mesenchymal properties with induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cells in both normoxia and hypoxia. Cellular migration speed (S) of MCF-7 cells was significantly upregulated with decreasing in coefficient of damping (tanδ). The softer gel substrate produced a large amount of surface molecule of cancer stem cells (CSC) marker CD44. In contrast, for the stem cell biomarker CD133 expression, their tanδ-dependent manner was not contributed by EMT phenomenon and was an independent from acquisition of the EMT. The substrate damping as potential physical parameter emerged the important linkage to cellular motility, cancer stemness, and EMT induction.
