Abstract
The anti-cancer drug, emodin, can cause significant mechanobiological changes in human cancer cells, due to the interplay of anti-cell adhesion, actin-disrupting and apoptosis-causing effects of the drug. Here, we used micropillars to monitor the changes in traction forces induced by breast cancer cells in response to this drug stimulus. Our results showed that the variations in the cell traction forces reflected changes in the cytoskeleton integrity and cell behavior. Cell traction forces were found to increase during cell rounding and decrease during the onset of apoptosis and cytoskeleton disruption. These results can provide useful insights into the chemo-mechanical relationships arising from the cell–matrix interactions and can potentially help in the quantitative assessment of drug efficacy.
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