Atomic Force Microscopy in Mechanoimmunology Analysis: A New Perspective for Cancer Immunotherapy.

Immunotherapy has remarkable success outcomes against hematological malignancies with high rates of complete remission. To date, many studies have been conducted to increase its effectiveness in other types of cancer. However, it still yields unsatisfying results in solid tumor therapy. This limitation is partly attributed to the lack of understanding of how immunotherapy works in cancer from other perspectives. The traditional studies focused on the biological and chemical perspectives to determine which molecular substrates are involved in the immune system that can eradicate cancer cells. In the last decades, accumulating evidences have shown that physical properties also play important roles in the immune system to combat cancer, which is studied in mechanoimmunology. Mechanoimmunology analysis requires special tools; and herein, atomic force microscopy (AFM) appears as a versatile tool to determine and quantify the mechanical properties of a sample in nanometer precisions. Owing to its multifunctional capabilities, AFM can be used to explore immune system function from the physical perspective. This review paper will explain the mechanoimmunology of how immune system works through AFM, which includes mechanosignalling, mechanosensing, and mechanotransduction; with the aim to deepen our understanding about the mechanistic role of immunotherapy for further development in cancer treatment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.