Patient-derived glioblastoma cells (GBM) exhibit distinct biomechanical profiles associated with altered activity in the cytoskeleton regulatory pathway

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most commonly diagnosed brain cancer in adults, characterized by rapid proliferation and aggressive invasion into the stroma. Advances in our understanding of the molecular subtypes of GBM have provided attractive druggable targets. However, the high degree of heterogeneity both among patients and within individual tumors has proven a significant challenge for the development of effective therapies. We hypothesized that this heterogeneity is also represented in the mechanical phenotypes of GBM, as the physical properties of tumor tissue strongly influence elements of tumor progression including cell cycle regulation, migration, and therapeutic resistance. To assess these phenotypes, we employed optical trap-based active microrheology to determine the viscoelastic properties of patient-derived GBM cells in 3D hydrogels mimicking the brain ECM. We found that each GBM cell line had a distinct rheological profile as a function of treatment status, and cell lines could be further characterized by strong power law dependence describing intracellular viscoelastic behavior. Single-cell phenotyping according to power law dependence was able to identify subpopulations of cells within the treatment-resistant line. Finally, proteomic analysis indicated that altered mechanical profiles were associated with differential cytoskeletal regulation, particularly in actin - and myosin-binding pathways. This work suggests that evaluating mechanical properties may serve as a valuable strategy for the further stratification of these tumors, and encourages the investigation of cytoskeleton regulation as a potential therapeutic target for GBM.