Cancer cells in the tumor core exhibit spatially coordinated migration patterns.
Ralitza StanevaFatima El MarjouJorge BarbazanDenis KrndijaSophie RichonAndrew G ClarkDanijela Matic VignjevicPublished in: Journal of cell science (2019)
In the early stages of metastasis, cancer cells exit the primary tumor and enter the vasculature. Although most studies have focused on the tumor invasive front, cancer cells from the tumor core can also potentially metastasize. To address cell motility in the tumor core, we imaged tumor explants from spontaneously forming tumors in mice in real time using long-term two-photon microscopy. Cancer cells in the tumor core are remarkably dynamic and exhibit correlated migration patterns, giving rise to local 'currents' and large-scale tissue dynamics. Although cells exhibit stop-and-start migration with intermittent pauses, pausing does not appear to be required during division. Use of pharmacological inhibitors indicates that migration patterns in tumors are actively driven by the actin cytoskeleton. Under these conditions, we also observed a relationship between migration speed and correlation length, suggesting that cells in tumors are near a jamming transition. Our study provides new insight into the dynamics of cancer cells in the tumor core, opening new avenues of research in understanding the migratory properties of cancer cells and later metastasis.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
Keyphrases
- escherichia coli
- induced apoptosis
- type diabetes
- stem cells
- squamous cell carcinoma
- metabolic syndrome
- cell death
- mass spectrometry
- cell cycle arrest
- cell proliferation
- skeletal muscle
- single molecule
- single cell
- oxidative stress
- pseudomonas aeruginosa
- mesenchymal stem cells
- insulin resistance
- cell therapy
- high speed
- living cells
- biofilm formation
- label free