A method to measure cellular adhesion utilizing a polymer micro-cantilever

摘要

In the present study we engineered a micro-machined polyimide cantilever with an embedded sensing element to investigate cellular adhesion, in terms of its relative ability to stick to a cross-linker, 3,3′-dithiobis[sulfosuccinimidylpropionate], coated on the cantilever surface. To achieve this objective, we investigated adhesive properties of three human prostate cancer cell lines, namely, a bone metastasis derived human prostate cancer cell line (PC3), a brain metastasis derived human prostate cancer cell line (DU145), and a subclone of PC3 (PC3-EMT14). We found that PC3-EMT14, which displays a mesenchymal phenotype, has the least adhesion compared to PC3 and DU145, which exhibit an epithelial phenotype.