Speaker : Prof. Andreas Stylianou Affiliation : European University Cyprus Region : Europe Year : 2022 Language : English A number of pathological conditions, including cancer and fibrosis, are thought to be closely related to alterations in the content, structure and mechanical properties of biological tissues. Fibrosis in general, and desmoplasia, a specific type of cancer fibrosis, poses a major barrier to effective drug delivery and has been associated with poor prognosis. Tissue stiffening can cause blood vessel inefficiency and hypo-perfusion, and as a result, it poses major physiological barriers to the systemic delivery of drugs. Consequently, there is an urgent need for the development of novel biomarkers that characterize the mechanical state of a particular pathological tissue so as to support the development of novel therapeutic strategies that target the tumor mechanical microenvironment. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) arises as a unique tool for assessing the nanomechanical properties of tissues. In this work we present our research results on using AFM and optical microscopy techniques (including polarized microscopy) for assessing the nanomechanical profile of highly demsoplastic tumors (i.e., breast, sarcoma and pancreatic cancers) and fibrotic lungs, during cancer and pulmonary fibrosis progression. Also, AFM techniques were used for assessing specific treatment outcomes (i.e., anti-fibrotic treatments). Our results highlight that AFM is sensitive enough to assess small nanomechanical alteration during pathological conditions progression and during or after treatment. The identification of unique AFM-based nanomechanical fingerprints can lead to the development of novel mechanical biomarkers for treatment perdition and monitoring.
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