Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23056368›Full record

ArticlePloS one2012

Cell stiffness is a biomarker of the metastatic potential of ovarian cancer cells.

Wenwei Xu, Roman Mezencev, Byungkyu Kim, Lijuan Wang, John McDonald, Todd Sulchek

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 384 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
384citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

384 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Mechanical regulation of cell memory.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2026
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  18. Nuclear destabilisation - a possible genesis of cancer?Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025
    Review
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  20. Article

324 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Wenwei XuThe George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
Roman Mezencev
Byungkyu Kim
Lijuan Wang
John McDonald
Todd Sulchek

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The metastatic potential of cells is an important parameter in the design of optimal strategies for the personalized treatment of cancer. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM), we show, consistent with previous studies conducted in other types of epithelial cancer, that ovarian cancer cells are generally softer and display lower intrinsic variability in cell stiffness than non-malignant ovarian epithelial cells. A detailed examination of highly invasive ovarian cancer cells (HEY A8) relative to their less invasive parental cells (HEY), demonstrates that deformability is also an accurate biomarker of metastatic potential. Comparative gene expression analyses indicate that the reduced stiffness of highly metastatic HEY A8 cells is associated with actin cytoskeleton remodeling and microscopic examination of actin fiber structure in these cell lines is consistent with this prediction. Our results indicate that cell stiffness may be a useful biomarker to evaluate the relative metastatic potential of ovarian and perhaps other types of cancer cells.

Indexed as

ActinsBiomarkersCell Line, TumorCell MovementFemaleHumansMicroscopy, Atomic ForceNeoplasm MetastasisOvarian NeoplasmsActinsBiomarkers

Identifiers

PMID23056368
PMCPMC3464294

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.