"Cancer metastasis" is almost identical to death in the eyes of ordinary people: once cancer metastasizes, the survival rate of cancer patients will be greatly reduced. The treatments that doctors can use have also become extremely limited. Therefore, understanding the hidden biological principles behind cancer metastasis has become a hot spot in cancer research.
Recently, researchers from Emory University, a veteran American university, found that some cancer cells played the role of “leading big brother†in the process of cancer metastasis. These cancer cells are in the first line of metastasis, leading other cancer cells to invade. If you can smash the thief and kill the lead cancer cells, it is expected to inhibit the further spread of cancer. The heavy research was published in Nature, a subsidiary of Nature Communications.
â–² Professor Adam Marcus, head of the study (Source: Emory University)
This important discovery is an unexpected surprise. Previously, the researchers developed a new microscopy technique to accurately track specific cells in a three-dimensional environment. This technique uses a special class of fluorescent protein Dendra2. Under normal conditions, it is similar to GFP and emits green fluorescence. However, by the activation of a special wavelength laser, its green fluorescence will turn into red fluorescence. In this way, researchers can change the color of a laser beam of interest to a cell. Subsequently, by isolating cells with red fluorescence, the researchers could further understand the genetic changes within the red cells.
Using this technology, researchers began to look at various cancer models, including lung cancer cells. In the medium, the researchers found an interesting phenomenon - these cancer cells formed a distinct "chain" shape as they spread to the surrounding area, that is, a string of cells lined up and spread around. The meticulous researchers realized that the extension of the chain is highly dependent on the presence of the leading cells.
"We see that when the leading cells fall off or die, the cells that follow the trend can't move," said Dr. Jessica Konen, the lead author of the study.
What's more interesting is that the big brother who took the lead and the younger brother who followed the trend seemed to value the other side. "In a cell video shot, we saw a headed cell out of the big force. When it realized that no cells were behind it, it entered a 180-degree turn and turned to find its companion. Dr. Konen added. In addition, in the paper, the researchers also mentioned that when the leading cells detached, some tenacious follower cells tried to move toward the leading cells, which seemed to want to re-establish contact.
â–²The leading cells that have fallen off (white arrows) will turn their heads and look for associates (red) (Source: Nature Communications)
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