Isolation of Primary Human Colon Tumor Cells from Surgical Tissues and Culturing Them Directly on Soft Elastic Substrates for Traction Cytometry

A protocol is described to extract primary human cells from surgical colon tumor and normal tissues. The isolated cells are then cultured on soft elastic substrates (polyacrylamide hydrogels) functionalized by an extracellular matrix protein, and embedded with fluorescent microbeads. Traction cytometry is performed to assess cellular contractile stresses.