Recognition Imaging of Trace E-cadherins on the Bladder Cancer Cells Surface during Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition by Force-Distance Curve-Based AFM.
Miaomiao ZhangJuan QinXinyue GuoZongjia LiChristian RanklBailin ZhangJilin TangPublished in: Nano letters (2023)
Tumor-associated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) contains a set of transitional cellular states usually judged by the EMT marker expression. E-cadherin is a down-regulated EMT epithelial marker, and the detection of E-cadherin is challenging on cancer cell surfaces in the middle and late stages of EMT. Here, the trace E-cadherins on the living bladder cancer T24 cell surface during EMT were investigated with force-distance curve-based atomic force microscopy. The results confirmed that T24 cells are still in an intermediate state and can be transferred into the mesenchymal phenotype by long-term TGF-β1 induction. During EMT, E-cadherins on the T24 cell surface gradually decreased and rarely clustered. E-cadherin is not completely missing, even at the end of EMT, but is too sparse to cluster. This work provides us with a visual understanding of the expression and distribution of trace markers during EMT and a deep comprehension of the indispensable significance of E-cadherin in cancer cells.
Keyphrases
- epithelial mesenchymal transition
- transforming growth factor
- cell surface
- atomic force microscopy
- signaling pathway
- poor prognosis
- heavy metals
- single molecule
- stem cells
- high speed
- bone marrow
- high resolution
- escherichia coli
- risk assessment
- transcription factor
- binding protein
- spinal cord injury
- mass spectrometry
- staphylococcus aureus
- cystic fibrosis
- biofilm formation