1. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2020 Oct 8;7(22):2002643. doi: 10.1002/advs.202002643. 
eCollection 2020 Nov.

Label-Free Imaging of Cholesterol Assemblies Reveals Hidden Nanomechanics of 
Breast Cancer Cells.

Dumitru AC(1), Mohammed D(1), Maja M(2), Yang J(1), Verstraeten S(3), Del Campo 
A(4), Mingeot-Leclercq MP(3), Tyteca D(2), Alsteens D(1).

Author information:
(1)Louvain Institute of Biomolecular Science and Technology (LIBST) Université 
catholique de Louvain Louvain-la-Neuve 1348 Belgium.
(2)Cell Biology (CELL) Unit de Duve Institute Université catholique de Louvain 
Brussels 1200 Belgium.
(3)Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology Unit (FACM) Louvain Drug Research 
Institute Université catholique de Louvain Brussels 1200 Belgium.
(4)INM - Leibniz-Institut für Neue Materialien gGmbH Campus D2 2 Saarbrücken 
66123 Germany.

Tumor cells present profound alterations in their composition, structural 
organization, and functional properties. A landmark of cancer cells is an 
overall altered mechanical phenotype, which so far are linked to changes in 
their cytoskeletal regulation and organization. Evidence exists that the plasma 
membrane (PM) of cancer cells also shows drastic changes in its composition and 
organization. However, biomechanical characterization of PM remains limited 
mainly due to the difficulties encountered to investigate it in a quantitative 
and label-free manner. Here, the biomechanical properties of PM of a series of 
MCF10 cell lines, used as a model of breast cancer progression, are 
investigated. Notably, a strong correlation between the cell PM elasticity and 
oncogenesis is observed. The altered membrane composition under cancer 
progression, as emphasized by the PM-associated cholesterol levels, leads to a 
stiffening of the PM that is uncoupled from the elastic cytoskeletal properties. 
Conversely, cholesterol depletion of metastatic cells leads to a softening of 
their PM, restoring biomechanical properties similar to benign cells. As novel 
therapies based on targeting membrane lipids in cancer cells represent a 
promising approach in the field of anticancer drug development, this method 
contributes to deciphering the functional link between PM lipid content and 
disease.

© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.

DOI: 10.1002/advs.202002643
PMCID: PMC7675049
PMID: 33240781

Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.