Effect of SMMC-7721-derived exosomes on hepatocytes studied by AFM

Exosomes play an important role in the early diagnosis and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the past, researchers mainly studied the contents of exosomes and the biological mechanism on cells, but the changes of mechanical properties of cells caused by exosomes are not clear. In this study, the changes of mechanical properties of hepatocytes (L-02) co-cultured with exosomes (7721-exos) derived from HCC (SMMC-7721) with low metastatic ability were studied. The 7721-exos were able to promote the proliferation and rearrange the cytoskeleton of L-02 cells. The atomic force microscopy measurement results showed that the height was increased, the adhesion and the elastic modulus were reduced. The effect was concentration dependent. The changes of cell mechanical properties induced by exosomes were of great significance for further studying the mechanism of exosomes.