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Mechanotransduction

Catching the X-waves

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 12, page 510 (2012)Cite this article

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force alone could drive collective cellular invasion in cancer

The authors took advantage of soft lithography techniques to produce a polydimethylsiloxane membrane with a rectangular opening that was placed on top of a polyacrylamide gel coated with collagen I. Madin-Darby Canine Kidney cells were grown to near confluence in the rectangular opening, and then the membrane was removed allowing the cells room to expand. Traction-force microscopy and monolayer-stress microscopy were used to analyse the cellular responses. The cells at the edges of the monolayer were the first to respond and migrate, followed by cells further from the edge. Similar patterns of traction forces were noted: cells at the outer edges had large traction forces, whereas those at the centre did not.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Serra-Picamal, X. et al. Mechanical waves during tissue expansion. Nature Physics 8 Jul 2012 (doi:10.1038/NPHYS2355)

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Authors
  1. Nicola McCarthy
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McCarthy, N. Catching the X-waves. Nat Rev Cancer 12, 510 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3331

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