Custom-built optical tweezers for locally probing the viscoelasticproperties of cancer cells

We report a home built optical tweezers setup to investigate the mechanism of the mem- brane tether formation from single cells in vitro. Using an optically trapped microbead as probe, we have determined the force-elongation curve during tether formation and extracted several parameters characterizing the viscoelastic behavior of the cell membrane: tether stiffness, force, and viscosity. Breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells have been studied in two different conditions, at room and physiological temperatures, showing a strong tem- perature dependence of the visoelastic properties of the cell membrane. To get detailed inside information about the tether formation mechanism we have extended the analysis of the force-elongation curves fitting them with a Kelvin model. These preliminary results are part of a larger project of whose goal is to compare the viscoelastic properties of several types of cancer cell lines, characterized by different aggressiveness and metastatic potential.