Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mingxi Yao, Ajay Tijore, Delfine Cheng, Jinyuan Vero Li, Anushya Hariharan, Boris Martinac, Guy Tran Van Nhieu, Charles D. Cox, Michael Sheetz
Summary: Mechanosensing is crucial for various physiological processes, and two major mechanosensing systems, focal adhesions and mechanosensitive ion channels, can convert mechanical features of the microenvironment into biochemical signals. Interestingly, it has been discovered that the mechanosensitive calcium-permeable channel Piezo1, previously thought to be diffusive on plasma membranes, binds to matrix adhesions in a force-dependent manner, thereby promoting cell spreading, adhesion dynamics, and calcium entry in normal cells but not in most cancer cells.
Article
Cell Biology
Benjamin Yeoman, Gabriel Shatkin, Pranjali Beri, Afsheen Banisadr, Parag Katira, Adam J. Engler
Summary: The study demonstrates that differences in cell migration and durotaxis between weakly and strongly adherent cells are driven by differences in intra-cellular actomyosin activity, providing insights into how metastatic cancer cells navigate against stiffness gradients.
Article
Cell Biology
Jayashree Sahana, Thomas J. Corydon, Markus Wehland, Marcus Krueger, Sascha Kopp, Daniela Melnik, Stefan Kahlert, Borna Relja, Manfred Infanger, Daniela Grimm
Summary: The study evaluated changes in focal adhesions in breast cancer cells exposed to simulated microgravity. The findings suggest that genes related to cytoskeleton, extracellular matrix, and focal adhesions are altered in response to microgravity. Fibronectin, vinculin, and E-cadherin play central roles in the formation of multicellular spheroids in breast cancer cells under such conditions.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Florian Geiger, Lukas G. Schnitzler, Manuel S. Brugger, Christoph Westerhausen, Hanna Engelke
Summary: This study investigates the influence of fiber orientation on invasion from a cancer cell spheroid in a collagen matrix. The results demonstrate a strong preference for invasion along radial fibers rather than tangential fibers.
Article
Oncology
Thi My Hang Nguyen, Yi-Shyun Lai, Ying-Chi Chen, Tzu-Chien Lin, Ngoc Thang Nguyen, Wen-Tai Chiu
Summary: This study found that under hypoxic conditions, the transcription factor YAP is activated in mesenchymal triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells, promoting cell migration. In addition, hypoxia causes the accumulation of focal adhesions (FAs) at the leading edge of tumor cells. However, the use of the YAP inhibitor verteporfin significantly reduces cell migration and prevents the accumulation of FAs under hypoxic conditions, but only in mesenchymal TNBC cells.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Chenfan Ji, Yongqiang Wang, Qin Wang, Andrew Wang, Aiman Ali, Christopher A. McCulloch
Summary: TRPV4 regulates collagen remodeling by downregulating beta 11 integrin expression and function through post-transcriptional mechanisms. This finding provides a new mechanism for studying collagen remodeling.
Article
Cell Biology
Lisa Dobson, William B. Barrell, Zahra Seraj, Steven Lynham, Sheng-Yuan Wu, Matthias Krause, Karen J. Liu
Summary: This study demonstrates that murine neural crest cells display actin-based lamellipodia and filopodia in vivo. Serine-threonine kinase GSK3 and cytoskeletal regulator Lpd are found to be required for lamellipodia formation while preventing focal adhesion maturation. These findings improve the understanding of cytoskeletal regulation in mammalian neural crest migration and have implications for neural crest anomalies and cancer.
Article
Oncology
Jackson P. Fatherree, Justinne R. Guarin, Rachel A. McGinn, Stephen P. Naber, Madeleine J. Oudin
Summary: This study reveals that decellularized ECM obtained from chemotherapy-treated mice increases the motility of treatment-naive breast cancer cells. It also shows that collagen IV plays a role in tumor invasion and provides a novel mechanism by which chemotherapy may induce metastasis.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jenna A. Mosier, Emily D. Fabiano, Catherine M. Ludolph, Addison E. White, Cynthia A. Reinhart-King
Summary: Mechanical cues in the tumor microenvironment affect cancer cell migration. Microscale pores in tumor tissue increase confinement, resulting in increased migration speed and accumulation of migratory machinery. Cells maintain their speed and memory of previous matrix cues even after leaving high confinement.
NANOSCALE ADVANCES
(2023)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Baoyu Duan, Ziyao Qin, Xuefeng Gu, Yanfei Li
Summary: This article reviews the structure of Migfilin, its binding partners, and their roles in various diseases and tumor progression.
ONCOTARGETS AND THERAPY
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Clotilde Huet-Calderwood, Felix E. Rivera-Molina, Derek K. Toomre, David A. Calderwood
Summary: Fibronectin (FN) is an important component of the extracellular matrix (ECM) that supports cell adhesion, migration, and signaling through binding to integrin receptors. This study demonstrates that FN is secreted predominantly at the ventral surface of cells in an integrin-independent manner and its secretion is regulated by cell polarization. Additionally, the deposition of FN continues during focal adhesion disassembly.
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Ellen Emi Kato, Luciana Araujo Pimenta, Maira Estanislau Soares de Almeida, Vanessa Olzon Zambelli, Marinilce Fagundes dos Santos, Sandra Coccuzzo Sampaio
Summary: The study demonstrated that CTX inhibits major events involved in angiogenesis, such as tube formation and cell adhesion, proliferation, and migration. These actions were particularly effective against tumor stimuli, highlighting the importance of CTX's anti-angiogenic action in inhibiting tumor progression.
FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biophysics
Jacob Austin, Ying Tu, Kaushik Pal, Xuefeng Wang
Summary: This study investigates the relationship among integrin tensions, vinculin, and focal adhesion (FA) formation. Through manipulations and visualizations, it is found that only when integrin tensions reach a certain threshold value, large FAs can be formed. In the absence of vinculin, integrin tensions decrease, leading to the inability to activate the necessary forces for FA formation, indicating the essential role of vinculin in transmitting high and intermediate levels of integrin tensions in FAs.
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Adeel Ahmed, Indranil M. Joshi, Madeleine R. Goulet, Justin A. Vidas, Ann M. Byerley, Mehran Mansouri, Steven W. Day, Vinay V. Abhyankar
Summary: Aligned collagen I (COL1) fibers have important effects on various biological processes, such as tumor cell motility, endothelial cell morphology, and stem cell differentiation. Microfluidic approaches have been developed to generate COL1 matrices with defined fiber alignment, providing advanced capabilities for in vitro cell culture. However, the current microfluidic methods are limited to thin mats of COL1 fibers and not suitable for 3D cell culture applications. In this study, a protocol for fabricating 3D COL1 matrices with millimeter-scale regions of defined fiber alignment in a microfluidic device is presented, offering advanced cell culture capabilities to model structured tissue microenvironments.
JOVE-JOURNAL OF VISUALIZED EXPERIMENTS
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Evangelia Bouzos, Prashanth Asuri
Summary: Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths and effective anti-metastatic drugs are lacking. Current screening methods for anti-metastatic compounds primarily use two-dimensional platforms, which do not fully capture the complexities of in vivo migration along matrix stiffness gradients. This study developed a sandwich culture platform to investigate the role of stiffness transitions in cell migration and could contribute to the development of therapeutic strategies against tumor cell motility and invasion.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lakmali M. Silva, Andrew D. Doyle, Teresa Greenwell-Wild, Nicolas Dutzan, Collin L. Tran, Loreto Abusleme, Lih Jiin Juang, Jerry Leung, Elizabeth M. Chun, Andrew G. Lum, Cary S. Agler, Carlos E. Zuazo, Megan Sibree, Priyam Jani, Vardit Kram, Daniel Martin, Kevin Moss, Michail S. Lionakis, Francis J. Castellino, Christian J. Kastrup, Matthew J. Flick, Kimon Divaris, Thomas H. Bugge, Niki M. Moutsopoulos
Summary: Tissue-specific cues, particularly fibrin, play a critical role in regulating neutrophil function at mucosal barriers, with commensal microbiota triggering extravascular fibrin deposition. Fibrin engages neutrophils through integrin receptors and activates immune-protective functions, but impaired fibrinolysis can lead to tissue damage. Polymorphisms in plasminogen gene are associated with periodontal disease, suggesting that fibrin-neutrophil engagement may contribute to mucosal diseases.
Article
Cell Biology
Shayan S. Nazari, Andrew D. Doyle, Christopher K. E. Bleck, Kenneth M. Yamada
Summary: Cancer cells can breach basement-membrane barriers by extending long protrusions, facilitating the initial step of cancer metastasis.