Colony Edge Effect on the Cancer Cell Detachment
Yao Zhang (The Pennsylvania State Univers), Changjin Huang (The Pennsylvania State Univers), Sulin Zhang (Penn State University)
Mechanics of cell sheets, multicellular assemblies and tissues
Mon 9:00 - 10:30
Barus-Holley 141
Metastasis is the spread process of cancer cells from primary tumors to distant organs where secondary tumors are established. A better fundamental understanding of metastasis will advance the cancer diagnosis and therapy. Though many studies have been devoted to the initiation of metastasis in which tumor cells detach from the primary tumor and invade adjacent tissue, the underlying mechanism for metastasis remains elusive. Recent studies reported that substrate stiffness modulates cancer cell detachment and subsequent migration. Here we provide experimental evidence demonstrating that the presence of free edges is also a critical factor for cancer cell dissociation from colonies. Our findings offer insight into the biophysical origin of cancer metastasis.