DIRECT CORRELATION BETWEEN CELL-MEMBRANE FLUCTUATIONS, CELL FILTERABILITY AND THE METASTATIC POTENTIAL OF LYMPHOID-CELL LINES

Cell membrane fluctuations, which reflect local bending deformability of the cell surface, are composed of submicron aperiodic reversible di splacements of the cell membrane in the frequency range of 0.5-20Hz. M easurements of time-dependent light scattering from small areas (0.25 mu m(2)) of the cell surface reveal a higher level of cell membrane fl uctuations in high metastatic BW5147 T-lymphoma derived cell lines tha n in their corresponding non-metastatic cell lines. Filterability meas urements, carried out by recording the passage time of equal volumes o f cell suspensions and media through 8 mu m and 10 mu m pores of a pol ycarbonate filter, demonstrate a higher filterability (lower rigidity index) for the high metastatic cell lines than their matched nonmetast atic ones. Hence, the present study demonstrates a positive correlatio n between the metastatic potential of BW5147 lymphoma derived cell lin es, their relative level of cell membrane fluctuations and their in-vi tro cell filterability. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.