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Single-Cell Biophysics: Measurement, Modulation, and Modeling
Poster Abstracts
88
87-POS
Board 44
Observing the Dynamics of Actin in Live Breast Cancer Cells
Fang Tian
1
, Jing Li
1
, Sidong Chen
2
, Hykeun Park
1,2
.
2
the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
1
the Hong
Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, Hong Kong,
Actin filaments play an important role in maintaining cell morphology and dynamic processes
including movement. In particular, the dynamics of actin is a key component in movement of
cancer cells during metastasis. However, the dynamics of actin in live cancer cells is not clearly
understood yet. We imaged actin filaments using Lifeact-GFP (a novel marker for actin
filaments) in live MCF7 cells (breast cancer cells). We observed the dynamics of actin filaments
during the movement of MCF7 cells. We also measured different dynamics of actin filaments
under different forces in cancer cell, which were generated by a magnetic tweezers. Our studies
demonstrate the dynamics of actin filaments in live cancer cells and provide a possible
mechanism for metastasis of breast cancer cells to different tissues.