Credit: Bastian Hartmann et al.
University of Freiburg and Munich University of Applied Sciences researchers have developed a novel user-friendly method to analyze basement membrane samples to assist in the early detection of metastasis. Prior to this development, no method has been available to predict future metastasis reliably.
Metastasis, when diagnosed, significantly worsens the prognosis of cancer patients and is largely responsible for the death rate of solid cancer patients. The method developed by the researchers relies on analyzing basement membranes in the human body as their mechanical properties are critical for the metastatic process.
"We're convinced that the publication of this method in the form of a detailed protocol will make it possible to get closer to an early diagnosis of metastasis formation," says Dr. Raphael Reuten a junior professor from the University of Freiburg. Historically, the basement membrane was seen merely as a barrier that cancer cells had to overcome. In 2021, Reuten and Professor Hauke Clausen-Schaumann from Munich University of Applied Sciences published a groundbreaking paper demonstrating that the mechanical properties of basement membranes were, in fact, influential to the metastasis of cancer cells.
Armed with this information, the duo developed a user-friendly analysis tool to determine the mechanical properties of the basement membrane found in human lungs. The method, published in Nature Protocols, includes using semi-automated software to analyze the data collected. With further use, the software will become even more powerful by leveraging artificial intelligence. "Once there are more comprehensive data, fully-automated recognition of the basement membrane using machine learning will be implemented," said Bastian Hartmann from the Munich University of Applied Sciences.
"Localizing it exactly in the tissue, measuring its mechanical properties and discerning this precisely from that of the surrounding tissue was an exceptional challenge," added Hauke Clausen-Schaumann, when describing the 100 to 400 nanometers thick basement membrane. "We were able to solve this with a combination of optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy."
The researchers believe that the analysis tool could uncover important cancer research findings. Despite the changes that tumors cause to many structures within the body, the basement membranes' mechanical properties appear to be independent of these changes and are a crucial influence on the metastasis process itself. Given this information, it is possible that certain mechanisms of the membranes could make certain people more susceptible to metastasis development.