The effect of hemodynamic shear forces on the apoptosis of breast cancer cells

Cancer metastasis is characterized by the uncontrolled cell proliferation, spreading of carcinoma cells to other sites of the human body and accounts for around 90% of human cancer-related deaths. Currently, the effect of hemodynamic shear forces on the apoptosis of cancer cells is poorly understood. This final year project focused on the effect of pulsatile shear stress on breast cancer cells MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. The MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells transfected with Caspase-3 sensor gene to promote expression of Caspase-3 sensor are capable of detecting apoptotic activities in these cells. Both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells were subjected to pulsatile shear stress for 12 hours and static conditions for another 36 hours. Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer images were taken at different time points to determine apoptotic rate. It was demonstrated that MCF-7 breast cancer cells are less resistant to apoptosis than MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, suggesting different characteristics between both cell types towards apoptosis. Possible suggestions to improve on the experimental setup employed in this project were provided, and more studies about the pulsatile nature of hemodynamic shear stress on cancer cell apoptosis can aid in the development of new and better cancer treatments and minimize occurrence of cancer metastasis.Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering