The aim of the study was to get more insight into the role of LRP-1 in the mechanism of tumor progression in triple negative breast cancer. Atomic force microscopy, videomicroscopy, confocal microscopy and Rho-GTPAse activity assay were used on MDA-MB-231 and LRP-1-silenced cells. Silencing of LRP-1 in MDA-MB-231 cells was shown to led to a dramatic increase in the Young's modulus in parallel to a spectacular drop in membrane extension dynamics as well as a decrease in the cells migration abilities on both collagen I and fibronectin substrates. These results were perfectly correlated to a corresponding change in cell morphology and spreading capacity as well as in Rho-GTPases activity. By a multi-technique approach, it was demonstrated that LRP-1 played a crucial role in the migration of MDA-MB-231 cells by modulating the membrane extension dynamic. The originality of this AFM investigation lies in the non-invasive aspect of the measurements.
Keywords: Atomic force microscopy; LRP-1; Triple negative breast cancer.
Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.