Cancer Cells Sense Fibers by Coiling on Them in a Curvature-Dependent Manner

Migrating cancer cells must move through a complex extracellular matrix containing fibrous proteins, but little is known about how cancer cells physically interact with these fibers. Researchers from Virginia Tech have developed a system that allows them to study this process at the single-cell level and find that during migration, cells are capable of physically coiling around fibers in a curvature- and diameter-dependent manner. This finding helps to lay the groundwork to link biophysical cell sensing with biological signaling during cancer cell migration and invasion.

Check out the paper at:

Mukherjee, A., Behkam, B., and Nain, A.S. (2019). Cancer Cells Sense Fibers by Coiling on Them in a Curvature-Dependent Manner. iScience.

And read more great research at iScience:

amrinder s. nain,apratim mukherjee,virginia tech,cancer cell,invasion,metastasis,cell protrusion,cell coiling,extracellular matrix,