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From left to right, the researchers Jaume Casademunt, Carlos Pérez and Xavier Trepat (Photo: IBEC).
 26.09.2018

Tumor cell expansion challenges current physics

The journal Nature Physics published a study by a team led by Xavier Trepat, ICREA researcher at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in the Barcelona Science Park and lecturer at the Department of Biomedicine University of Barcelona (UB), and Jaume Casademunt, professor of Physics at the UB, reveals the forces these tumor cells use to spread. The relation between these forces and the cell movement goes beyond current physical laws. 

 

A malignant tumor is characterized by its ability to spread around its surroundings. To do so, tumor cells stick to the surrounding tissue (mainly collagen) and use forces to propel. 

Researchers put breast tumor cells on a surface rich in collagen and observed how these expanded. Thanks to the technology Trepat’s group developed, these allowed them measuring the physical forces that were used by these cells during the process, which has not been observed so far. With these methods, they saw the tumor spreading depends on a competition between forces: cells stick to each other and are kept together, and at the same time, they adhere to the environment in order to escape. Depending on the predominant force, the tumor will keep its spherical shape or it will totally spread around the surface.

These findings show the importance of physical forces in metastasis, opening the window to the development of therapies to alter the mechanics of tumors as a potential treatment.

► For further information: IBEC website [+] and UB website [+]

► Reference article:
Carlos Pérez-González, Ricard Alert, Carles Blanch-Mercader, Manuel Gómez-González, Tomasz Kolodziej, Elsa Bazellieres, Jaume Casademunt, Xavier Trepat (2018). “Active wetting of epithelial tissues“. Nature Physics, 2018.