Biophysical properties of cells, such as cell mechanics, cell shape, and cell migration, are emerging hallmarks for characterizing various cell functions. Conversely, disruptions to these biophysical properties may be used as reliable indicators of disruptions to cell homeostasis, such as in the case of chemical-induced toxicity. In this study, we demonstrate that treatment of lead(II) nitrate and cadmium nitrate leads to dosage-dependent changes in a collection of biophysical properties, including cellular traction forces, focal adhesions, mechanical stiffness, cell shape, migration speed, permeability, and wound-healing efficacy in mammalian cells. As those changes appear within a few hours after the treatment with a trace amount of lead/cadmium, our results highlight the promise of using biophysical properties to screen environmental chemicals to identify potential toxicants and establish dose response curves. Our systematic and quantitative characterization of the rapid changes in cytoskeletal structure and cell functions upon heavy metal treatment may inspire new research on the mechanisms of toxicity.

中文翻译：

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重金属暴露导致细胞生物物理特性的快速变化

细胞的生物物理特性，例如细胞力学，细胞形状和细胞迁移，是表征各种细胞功能的新兴标志。相反，对这些生物物理特性的破坏可以用作对细胞稳态的破坏的可靠指标，例如在化学诱导的毒性的情况下。在这项研究中，我们证明了硝酸铅（II）和硝酸镉的处理导致一系列生物物理性质的剂量依赖性变化，包括细胞牵引力，粘着斑，机械刚度，细胞形状，迁移速度，通透性和在哺乳动物细胞中的伤口愈合功效。由于这些变化在用痕量铅/镉处理后的几个小时内出现，我们的结果突出了利用生物物理特性筛选环境化学品以识别潜在的有毒物质并建立剂量反应曲线的希望。我们对重金属处理后细胞骨架结构和细胞功能快速变化的系统和定量表征可能会激发有关毒性机理的新研究。