PIEZO channel protein naturally expressed in human breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231 as probed by atomic force microscopy

Mechanical stimuli drives many physiological processes through mechanically activated channels, and the recent discovery of PIEZO channel has generated great interests in its mechanotransduction. Many previous researches investigated PIEZO proteins by transcribing them in cells that originally have no response to mechanical stimulation, or by forming PIEZO-combined complexes in vitro, and few studied PIEZO protein’s natural characteristics in cells. In this study we show that MDA-MB-231, a malignant cell in human breast cancer cell line, expresses the mechanosensitive behavior of PIEZO in nature without extra treatment, and we report its characteristics in response to localized mechanical stimulation under an atomic force microscope, wherein a correlation between the force magnitude applied and the channel opening probability is observed. The results on PIEZO of MDA-MB-231 can help establish a basis of preventing and controlling of human breast cancer cell via mechanical forces

Calcium Fluorescence Response of Human Breast Cancer Cells by 50-MHz Ultrasound Microbeam Stimulation

Invasiveness research is an essential step in breast cancer metastasis. The application of non-contact high frequency ultrasound microbeam stimulation (HFUMS) offers a manner of determining the invasion potential of breast cancer cells. In this article, we compare the calcium elevations elicited in breast cancer cells