Epidermal growth factor promotes a mesenchymal over an amoeboid motility of MDA-MB-231 cells embedded within a 3D collagen matrix.

ABSTRACT: The receptor of epidermal growth factor (EGFR) critically regulates tumor cell invasion and is a potent therapeutic target for treatment of many types of cancers, including carcinomas and glioblastomas. It is known that EGF regulates cell motility when tumor cells are embedded within a 3D biomatrix. However, roles of EGF in modulating tumor cell motility phenotype are largely unknown. In this article, we report that EGF promotes a mesenchymal over an amoeboid motility phenotype using a malignant breast tumor cell line, MDA-MB-231, embedded within a 3D collagen matrix. Amoeboid cells are rounded in shape, while mesenchymal cells are elongated, and their migrations are governed by a distinctly different set of biomolecules. Using single cell tracking analysis, we also show that EGF promotes

SUBMITTER: Geum DT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6668350 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature