Figure 2

CM measurements of the tumor-retrieved cells with different recurrence status before and after flow-cytometry sorting. All cells were assessed with the microplate mechanical measurement system (MMS). The (A) compressive stiffness (CS), (B) tensile stiffness (TS) and (C) adhesion force (AF) of the non-recurrence (Non-Rec) and recurrence (Rec) group were measured and graphed as the mean (dotted line) ± SD (upper and lower index) in the scatter plots. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01. (D, E and F) The red and blue bars represent the Rec and Non-Rec groups, respectively. After sorting, each subgroup of cells was maintained separately for CM measurements. Based on the data, the double positive subgroup had higher CMs than the single positive subgroups, and a greater variation was observed in the double negative subgroup. (G, H and I) The distributions of the CM properties after Gaussian curve fit. Red dotted lines indicate the Rec group, and blue dashed lines indicate the Non-Rec group. The gray areas contain the suspected mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which are Sca-1⁺-CD44⁺. The number of peaks were counted after all CM data were fitted, and noticeably only one peak is present in each of the gray areas from the Rec population.