ABSTRACT
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is undoubtedly one of the most widely used techniques applied in studies focused on the characterization of physical properties of individual cells in conditions close to natural ones. The ongoing technological development brought so far research instruments that allow carrying out highly complex experiments, where AFM delivers unique information on cellular or molecular processes, not always accessible in other techniques. In cancer biology, cells' capability to deform and to adhere is strongly linked with the stage of a cell. The determination of the unbinding forces for various molecular complexes enables studies of the molecular complex formation and dissociation at a single molecule level. The determination of elastic properties of living cells or even tissues by AFM seems to be better developed as compared to the unbinding studies. Various data prove that cancer cells are more deformable as compared to normal cells. Due to experimental difficulties, tissue measurements by AFM are still rare.
