69 research outputs found
Editorial: Biomechanical Properties of Cells and Tissues and Their Impact on Cellular Adhesion and Motility
Editorial on the Research Topic.
Biomechanical Properties of Cells and Tissues and Their Impact on Cellular Adhesion
andMotility
Bidirectional Mechanical Response Between Cells and Their Microenvironment
Cell migration and invasion play a role in many physiological and pathological processes and
are therefore subject of intensive research efforts. Despite of the intensively investigated
biochemical processes associated with the migration and invasion of cells, such as cancer
cells, the contribution ofmechanobiological processes to themigratory capacity of cells as well
as the role of physical polymeric phase transitions is not yet clearly understood. Unfortunately,
these experiments are not very informative because they completely disregard the influence of
the three-dimensional cell environment. Despite this data situation, it was possible to
adequately demonstrate that there exists a direct mechanical interplay between cells and
theirmicroenvironment in both directions, where both elements can bemechanically altered by
one another. In line with these results, it has turned out that the mechanobiological molecular
processes through which cells interact with each other and additionally sense their nearby
microenvironment have an impact on cellular functions such as cellular motility. The
mechanotransduction processes have become the major focus of biophysical research
and thereby, diverse biophysical approaches have been developed and improved to
analyze the mechanical properties of individual cells and extracellular matrix environments.
Both, the cell mechanics and matrix environmentmechanics regulate the cellmigration types in
confined microenvironments and hence it seems to be suitable to identify and subsequently
present a common bidirectional interplay between cells and their matrix environment.
Moreover, hallmarks of the mechanophenotype of invasive cells and extracellular matrices
can be defined. This review will point out how on the one hand the intracellular cytoskeletal
architecture and on the other hand the matrix architecture contribute to cellular stiffness or
contractility and thereby determines the migratory phenotype and subsequently the
emergence of a distinct migration mode. Finally, in this review it is discussed whether
universal hallmarks of the migratory phenotype can be defined
Mechanical Cues Affect Migration and Invasion of Cells From Three Different Directions
Cell migration and invasion is a key driving factor for providing essential cellular functions
under physiological conditions or the malignant progression of tumors following
downward the metastatic cascade. Although there has been plentiful of molecules
identified to support the migration and invasion of cells, the mechanical aspects have
not yet been explored in a combined and systematic manner. In addition, the cellular
environment has been classically and frequently assumed to be homogeneous for
reasons of simplicity. However, motility assays have led to various models for migration
covering only some aspects and supporting factors that in some cases also include
mechanical factors. Instead of specific models, in this review, a more or less holistic
model for cell motility in 3D is envisioned covering all these different aspects with
a special emphasis on the mechanical cues from a biophysical perspective. After
introducing the mechanical aspects of cell migration and invasion and presenting
the heterogeneity of extracellular matrices, the three distinct directions of cell motility
focusing on the mechanical aspects are presented. These three different directions are
as follows: firstly, the commonly used invasion tests using structural and structure-based
mechanical environmental signals; secondly, the mechano-invasion assay, in which cells
are studied by mechanical forces to migrate and invade; and thirdly, cell mechanics,
including cytoskeletal and nuclear mechanics, to influence cell migration and invasion.
Since the interaction between the cell and the microenvironment is bi-directional in these
assays, these should be accounted in migration and invasion approaches focusing
on the mechanical aspects. Beyond this, there is also the interaction between the
cytoskeleton of the cell and its other compartments, such as the cell nucleus. In
specific, a three-element approach is presented for addressing the effect of mechanics
on cell migration and invasion by including the effect of the mechano-phenotype of the
cytoskeleton, nucleus and the cell’s microenvironment into the analysis. In precise terms,
the combination of these three research approaches including experimental techniques
seems to be promising for revealing bi-directional impacts of mechanical alterations of
the cellular microenvironment on cells and internal mechanical fluctuations or changes
of cells on the surroundings. Finally, different approaches are discussed and thereby a
model for the broad impact of mechanics on cell migration and invasion is evolved
Role of the Endothelium during Tumor Cell Metastasis: Is the Endothelium a Barrier or a Promoter for Cell Invasion and Metastasis?
The malignancy of cancer disease depends on the ability of the primary tumor to metastasize to distant organs. The process of the metastasis formation has largely been analyzed, but still main pathways regarding the extravasation step at the end of the metastasis formation process are controversially discussed. An agreement has been reached about the importance of the endothelium to promote metastasis formation either by enhancing the growth of the primary tumor or by homing (targeting) the tumor cells to blood or lymph vessels. The mechanical properties of the invading tumor cells become the focus of several studies, but the endothelial cell mechanical properties are still elusive. This paper describes the different roles of the endothelium in the process of metastasis formation and focuses on a novel role of the endothelium in promoting tumor cell invasion. It discusses how novel biophysical tools and in vivo animal models help to determine the role of the endothelium in the process of tumor cell invasion. Evidence is provided that cell mechanical properties, for example, contractile force generation of tumor cells, are involved in the process of tumor cell invasion
Viscoelasticity Acts as a Marker for Tumor Extracellular Matrix Characteristics
Biological materials such as extracellular matrix scaffolds, cancer cells, and tissues are
often assumed to respond elastically for simplicity; the viscoelastic response is quite
commonly ignored. Extracellular matrix mechanics including the viscoelasticity has turned
out to be a key feature of cellular behavior and the entire shape and function of healthy and
diseased tissues, such as cancer. The interference of cells with their local
microenvironment and the interaction among different cell types relies both on the
mechanical phenotype of each involved element. However, there is still not yet clearly
understood how viscoelasticity alters the functional phenotype of the tumor extracellular
matrix environment. Especially the biophysical technologies are still under ongoing
improvement and further development. In addition, the effect of matrix mechanics in
the progression of cancer is the subject of discussion. Hence, the topic of this review is
especially attractive to collect the existing endeavors to characterize the viscoelastic
features of tumor extracellular matrices and to briefly highlight the present frontiers in
cancer progression and escape of cancers from therapy. Finally, this review article
illustrates the importance of the tumor extracellular matrix mechano-phenotype,
including the phenomenon viscoelasticity in identifying, characterizing, and treating
specific cancer types
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