Adhesion of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells under Fluorescent and Soft X-ray Contact Microscopy

Abstract

Understanding cancer cell adhesion could help to diminish tumor progression and metastasis. Adhesion mechanisms are currently the main therapeutic target of TNBC-resistant cells. This work shows the distribution and size of adhesive complexes determined with a common fluorescence microscopy technique and soft X-ray contact microscopy (SXCM). The results presented here demonstrate the potential of applying SXCM for imaging cell protrusions with high resolution when the cells are still alive in a physiological buffer. The possibility to observe the internal components of cells at a pristine and hydrated state with nanometer resolution distinguishes SXCM from the other more commonly used techniques for cell imaging. Thus, SXCM can be a promising technique for investigating the adhesion and organization of the actin cytoskeleton in cancer cells.

Nanometer-Resolution Imaging of Living Cells Using Soft X-ray Contact Microscopy

“…The whole system can be mounted on an optical table with dimensions of approximately 1 × 1 m 2 . Detailed information on the presented system and the results of preliminary studies on SXCM can be found in the previous publications by our group [9,42].…”

“…The selection of appropriate exposure parameters allowed the dynamic tracking of adhesion structures, such as focal adhesions (FA), within human triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells [9]. Found in 15-20% of breast cancer patients, TNBC is an aggressive cancer subtype with a poor prognosis because of the lack of targeted therapies.…”

“…It allows the imaging of intact cells with nanometric resolution in their native state without freezing, chemical fixation, chemical staining, or sectioning. Thus, soft X-ray microscopy can analyze the structures of live cells in a hydrated condition and study dynamics in cell morphology [5,[9][10][11].…”