Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Subhaya Bose, Kinjal Dasbiswas, Arvind Gopinath
Summary: The study introduces a biophysical model for cell migration and long-range interactions through mechanical deformations. Key metrics of cell motile behavior were computed, showing how they depend on cell motility parameter and substrate stiffness.
Editorial Material
Chemistry, Physical
Amy E. M. Beedle, Pere Roca-Cusachs
Summary: By maximizing cell-substrate force transmission, cancer cells can migrate towards either stiffer or softer substrate regions.
Article
Biophysics
Qunfeng Yang, Nan Jiang, Hongwei Xu, Yajun Zhang, Chunyang Xiong, Jianyong Huang
Summary: Cells in living organisms exist in multiphysics-coupled environments, where exogenous electric fields and extracellular stiffness gradients can regulate cell movement and polarization. Research shows that cell responses to these electromechanical cues are nonlinear and can be integrated through cooperation and competition mechanisms. This work provides insights into how cells sense and respond to multiple cues for migration and polarization, with implications for physiological and pathological processes.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2021)
Review
Mathematics, Applied
Youyuan Deng, Herbert Levine, Xiaoming Mao, Leonard M. Sander
Summary: Epithelial cells can collectively move towards stiffer parts of a substrate, even when individual cells do not show this behavior. A 1D mechanical model is used to examine these effects, considering cell-substrate adhesions and contact inhibition of locomotion (CIL). The model reveals that durotaxis is only observed if cell rearrangement through proliferation is allowed, and it also explains the formation of the super-cell pattern.
PHYSICA D-NONLINEAR PHENOMENA
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yingxue Rong, Wenzhong Yang, Huiwen Hao, Wenxu Wang, Shaozhen Lin, Peng Shi, Yuxing Huang, Bo Li, Yujie Sun, Zheng Liu, Congying Wu
Summary: Our research reveals the crucial role of Golgi microtubules in single cell durotactic migration, influencing the dynamics of leading edge focal adhesions and showing that Golgi positioning responds to external mechanical cues. This study uncovers the cytoskeletal underpinning of single cell durotaxis, proposing a model where the Golgi-nucleus axis serves as both a compass and a steering wheel for cell directionality.
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Yuqiang Fang, Yanbing Hu, Fei Cheng, Yuanzhu Xin
Summary: This study proposes a new mechanosensing scheme of cells by using the tension in cortical cytoskeletons to probe the substrate, and successfully models the characteristic spread of cells on substrates of different stiffness, as well as their migration behavior on elastic-gradient substrates. The study concludes that cells migrate by polarized traction forces from stiffness gradients and stiffness matching between cells and substrate, actively targeting preferred substrates by following a rule of mechanical matching.
Article
Oncology
Jae-Il Choi, Sung Ill Jang, Jaehyun Hong, Chul Hoon Kim, Soon Sung Kwon, Joon Seong Park, Jong-Baeck Lim
Summary: In this study, it was demonstrated that CD44(+), CD24(+) and EpCAM(+) cancer-initiating cells (CICs) were enriched in patient-derived organoids of PDAC. CD44-expressing CICs formed lumen structures within the organoids. Additionally, CD44(-) cancer cells from the organoids could re-form organoids and be re-programed as CD44-expressing CICs. The study also showed that the maintenance of CICs in PDAC organoids was mediated by interactions with endothelial cells through Wnt and Notch signaling pathways.
Review
Cell Biology
Guilherme Ventura, Jakub Sedzinski
Summary: During embryogenesis, cell migration is a common active mechanism for tissue development. Our understanding of cell migration has been mainly based on in vitro studies, focusing on cells' ability to navigate and respond to the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix. However, the complexity of the tissue environments in vivo has limited our knowledge of cell migration in vivo.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Chun-Yi Chang, Chien-Chi Lin
Summary: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a common and aggressive form of pancreatic cancer with limited survival rate improvement, mainly due to its resistance to chemotherapy. Hydrogel-based tumor models can help in understanding how matrix properties affect cancer cell growth, migration, and drug resistance.
BIOENGINEERING-BASEL
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Hiroyuki Ebata, Satoru Kidoaki
Summary: The study found that the prolonged fluctuation of traction stress on a whole-cell scale was significantly enhanced on single cell-size triangular stiff patterns, which was derived from the interplay between the nomadic migration of cells to regions with different degrees of stiffness and domain shape-dependent traction force dynamics. This enhancement should be an essential factor for keeping cells far from tensional equilibrium.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Louis Combe, Melina Durande, Helene Delanoe-Ayari, Olivier Cochet-Escartin
Summary: Mechanical cues such as stresses and strains play important roles in biological processes. Segmentation of individual cells can provide information on their mechanical environment, but traditional methods are time consuming and prone to errors. In this paper, we propose a simple Convolutional Neural Network approach for cell shape measurement, and we optimize the architecture and complexity of the network to achieve better performance.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Julian C. Bahr, Xiao-Yan Li, Tamar Y. Feinberg, Long Jiang, Stephen J. Weiss
Summary: This study reveals the divergent mechanisms used by cancer cells and macrophages to penetrate native basement membrane barriers, providing insights into their invasive strategies.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mia Petljak, Alexandra Dananberg, Kevan Chu, Erik N. Bergstrom, Josefine Striepen, Patrick von Morgen, Yanyang Chen, Hina Shah, Julian E. Sale, Ludmil B. Alexandrov, Michael R. Stratton, John Maciejowski
Summary: The study reveals that endogenous APOBEC3 deaminases generate prevalent mutational signatures in human cancer cells, with APOBEC3A identified as the main driver of these mutations. APOBEC3B can restrain APOBEC3A-dependent mutagenesis to some extent while contributing its own smaller mutation burdens, and the mechanisms translating APOBEC3 activities into distinct mutational signatures are dissected.
Article
Cell Biology
Sheng Li, Lina Wu, Hong Zhang, Xijuan Liu, Zilei Wang, Bin Dong, Guang Cao
Summary: The study found that GINS1 is highly expressed in HCC tumors, associated with tumor grades, and predicts poor patient survival. By regulating the HRAS signaling pathway, GINS1 enhances HCC progression and promotes the stem cell activity of tumor cells. In addition, knocking down GINS1 can increase the sensitivity of HCC cells to sorafenib.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Wenya Shu, Kaplan C. Nadir
Summary: This theory presents a chemomechanical whole-cell model that explains the spreading and migration dynamics of mesenchymal cells on a viscoelastic substrate. The model incorporates the adhesion reinforcement effect and considers the influence of substrate stiffness and viscosity on cell behavior.
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INTERFACE
(2023)