Mechanical Properties of Breast Cancer Cell Membrane Studied with Optical Tweezers

Membrane tethers are extracted from breast cancer cells using a force generated by an optical trap. It is experimentally obtained that the radius of tether is about 0.1μm and the static tether force is about 8.5 pN. Calculations based on the experimental measurements give a bending modulus for the tether of 1.35 x 10^-19 N.m and a surface membrane tension of 6.76 x 10^-6 N/m in the breast cancer cell. The treatment with cytochalasin D results in the decreasing bending modulus and decreasing apparent surface tension. When the membrane protein caveolin is over-expressed, similar cases occur in bending modulus and apparent surface tension. In addition, the viscous resistance coefficient of the membrane is calculated to be 1.15pN.s/μm according to the dynamic tether forces obtained under different pulling velocities.