原子力显微镜对雌激素受体表达的乳腺癌细胞形态特征的观察

目的  原子力显微镜（AFM）观察雌激素受体（ER）表达的乳腺癌细胞膜的表面形态变化，为亚细胞水平下探索肿瘤发生机制、发展过程和细胞水平诊断和早期诊断提供新方法，并为探索肿瘤的治疗新途径提供依据。方法  利用原子力显微镜分别观察雌激素受体抗体阳性表达和阴性表达的乳腺癌细胞膜表面形态特征并对特征参数平均粗糙度、平均峰高度、平均凹陷深度和表面积差值进行定量测量，采用统计学方法进行差异性分析。结果  雌激素受体抗体阳性表达组的乳腺癌细胞形态和阴性表达组相比具有明显的不同，阳性表达组乳腺癌细胞膜表面凸凹不平，可见“细密尖锐”的“麦芒样”隆起，而阴性表达组的乳腺癌细胞膜呈“粗大饱满”的“沟渠样”隆起。两组细胞在平均粗糙度、平均峰高度、平均凹陷深度和表面积差值方面有明显差异（P <0.05）。结论  细胞膜表面结构因细胞的功能状态的不同而不相同。相同肿瘤细胞在不同功能状态下，其细胞膜在形态结构上存在很大的差异，这为探讨肿瘤的发生机制、发展过程和早期诊断及细胞诊断提供依据。

Morphological characteristics of breast cancer cells with estrogen receptor expression under atomic force microscope

Objective To observe the surface morphological changes of breast cancer cell membrane with different expression of estrogen receptor (ER) under atomic force microscope (AFM), explore the mechanism of occurrence and development of breast cancer, as well as provide new ideas for early diagnosis of tumor on early sub-cellular level basis and possible evidence for advanced tumor therapy modalities. Methods The breast cancer cells were divided into two groups based on the level of ER expression: positive group and negative group. And then the surface morphology of cell membrane was observed under AFM. In both groups the characteristic morphological parameters were quantitatively measured for each cell, which included average roughness, mean peak height, average maximum depth and surface area difference. Then the results were statistically analyzed. Results There were significant differences between the two groups in cellular morphology. The surface of ER-positive cell membrane was rough and uneven: sharp tuberositas was similar to the awn of wheat; while in the ER-negative group, the tuberositas was crassitude and plump, just as the ditch. There were significant differences in the average roughness, mean peak height, average maximum depth and surface area difference between the cells of both groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions The surface structure of breast cancer cell membrane varies with different functional state. This may provide us with an insight into the mechanism of actions of the cancer, its development process, and early diagnosis at pathological and clinical levels.