Mechanics of lung cancer: A finite element model shows strain amplification during early tumorigenesis
Fig 6
Strain-mediated alveolar wall thickening produces tracks that emulate ECM remodeling in human LUAD.
A. Simulated thickening in alveolar wall elements that experience 28% Lagrange strain at 20% applied stretch for 5 iterations. Alveolar walls thickened to 30 μm are represented in red. B. Tenascin-C staining of a normal human lung, representative of n = 2. C. Tenascin-C staining at the edge of a T2 human tumor, representative of n = 6 T1 and T2 tumors. Dotted line shows the tumor edge (DAB with hematoxylin, 10x magnification). D. Inset from C. shows tracks of thick, Tenascin-C-stained alveolar walls that extend out from the tumor (40x magnification). Red lines mark the tracks of Tenascin-C. E. Serial section from C. (H&E, 40x magnification). Arrowheads indicate tumor cells with enlarged nuclei residing on thickened tracks.