A protocol for in vivo magnetisation of mice colon and application of physiological mechanical deformations to study mechanotransduction in tumour growth pressure

This protocol is an innovative method developed to study mechanical pressure in vivo, by subcutaneously inserting a dorsal magnet close to the mouse colon. The implanted magnet generates a magnetic force on ultra-magnetic liposomes (UML), stabilized in the mesenchymal cells connective tissue surrounding colonic crypts after intravenous injection. The pressure induced magnetically quantitatively mimicks in vivo the endogenous early tumour growth stress in the order of 1200 Pa without affecting tissue stiffness, as monitored by acoustic strain imaging and shear wave elastography.