Abstract
Malignant melanoma in the plantar surface of the foot is subjected to various mechanical stimuli generated by daily human activity such as walking. Some studies have reported that mechanical compression affects the development and progression of melanoma. However, little is known about how mechanical compression affects the behavior of malignant melanoma cells in a physiological condition due to the complexity of the invasion mechanisms. In this study, we developed an in vitro three-dimensional cell culture device using microporous membrane in order to evaluate the effects of mechanical compression on the invasion process of malignant melanoma. Our results suggest that the invasion of melanoma cells under the compressive stress for 8 h of culture was promoted with the elongation of F-actin filaments compared to control groups, whereas there was no significant difference between both groups at 32 h of culture, with increasing cell death associated with promoting melanin synthesis. The results of this study contribute to the elucidation of the invasion mechanisms of malignant melanoma caused by mechanical stimulation.
Highlights
Malignant melanoma is the most aggressive type of cutaneous malignant tumor, and is one of the fastest increasing types of malignant tumor [1,2]
The B16F10 cells in the compression groups migrated faster than those in control groups for 8 h after the start of compression. The cells in both groups invaded to reach similar distances from the center of the cell-attached region at 32 h. These results indicate that the compression promoted the invasion of cells in the malignant melanoma model
It was noted that the invasion of melanoma cells under the compressive stress for the first 8 h of culture was promoted in our melanoma model
Summary
Malignant melanoma is the most aggressive type of cutaneous malignant tumor, and is one of the fastest increasing types of malignant tumor [1,2]. Minagawa et al reported that melanomas tended to develop in the areas of plantar surfaces subjected to larger mechanical stress, such as the rear and front regions of the plantar aspect [9]. Stucke et al showed that mechanical stress, such as plantar pressure and shear stress, was higher in these two areas than in other areas of the plantar aspects [10]. Taken together, these findings suggest that mechanical stress could promote the formation of melanoma on the plantar aspect
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