Collective and individual migration following the epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

ABSTRACT: During cancer progression, malignant cells in the tumour invade surrounding tissues. This transformation of adherent cells to a motile phenotype has been associated with the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Here, we show that EMT-activated cells migrate through micropillar arrays as a collectively advancing front that scatters individual cells. Individual cells with few neighbours dispersed with fast, straight trajectories, whereas cells that encountered many neighbours migrated collectively with epithelial biomarkers. We modelled these emergent dynamics using a physical analogy to phase transitions during binary-mixture solidification, and validated it using drug perturbations, which revealed that individually migrating cells exhibit diminished chemosensitivity. Our measurements a

SUBMITTER: Wong IY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4209198 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature