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Deformability screening identifies NUDT5 as a mediator of cellular mechanobiology

ABSTRACT: How cells deform, sense, and respond to mechanical cues drives physiological and disease processes ranging from development to cancer metastasis; however, unbiased approaches to identify mechanical mediators are lacking. We screened 1280 compounds to identify modulators of cancer cell deformability using a cellular filtration assay and identified 92 compounds that significantly reduced deformability of ovarian cancer cells; top hits also reduced migration and invasion. Connectivity mapping of the top 21 compounds identified NUDT5 (Nudix hydrolase 5) as a predicted mechanical mediator; transcriptomic analyses implicated NUDT5 in mechanobiology and metabolic processes. We confirmed that NUDT5 mediates intracellular ATP and cellular mechanical behaviors, including morphology and deformability. In ovarian cancer, increased NUDT5 levels were associated with higher tumor stage and worse patient survival; NUDT5 inhibition reduced migration and colony formation in vitro and peritoneal tumor burden in mice. These findings establish deformability-based screening as a platform for discovering mechanical mediators and identify NUDT5 as a therapeutic target in ovarian cancer.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE335942 | GEO | 2026/06/24

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The malignancy potential is correlated with mechanical deformability of the cancer cells. Therefore, mechanical properties of individual patient cells can contribute essential knowledge in cancer diagnostics and in precision therapies. However, clinical applications are limited by lack of current knowledge and of reliable and robust cell mechanical tests. In a comprehensive study, we found a Triangular Correlation (TrC) between cell deformability, phagocytic like capacity, and cancer aggressiveness. A significant application of the TrC is that phagocytic measurements can be a surrogate marker for detecting malignancy of cancer cells based on mechanical properties. We found that the uptake of inert sub-micron and micro-beads was massively higher in cancer cells compared with non-cancerous cells. Moreover, cells with a higher malignancy potential had greater uptake capacity. Importantly, in a reciprocal approach, we sorted either human bladder cancer cells or melanoma cells into subpopulations, solely based on their phagocytic capacity. The more phagocytic subpopulations showed elevated phenotypes of cancer aggressiveness ex vivo and in vivo. The uptake potential was found to be an imprinted feature preserved genetically and enriched over the sorting cycles. A gene expression profile revealed differences in gene sets associated with regulation of cell-cell and extracellular matrix adhesions and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing showed that differences in gene expression were reflected also at the chromatin level. Importantly, in all cases studied here, enhanced phagocytic ability and elevated aggressiveness phenotypes were correlated with greater cell deformability, providing the mechanical link of the TrC. A computational model supported the notion that the uptake capacity can be a marker for malignancy mediated by cell mechanics. Our multidisciplinary approach, which involved complementary directions of study in several types of cancer cells, provides the proof of concept that phagocytic measurements can be applied for cancer diagnostics and precision medicine.

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Deformability screening identifies NUDT5 as a mediator of cellular mechanobiology

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