‘Nano-sensing’ drives melanoma cells’ invasion

Source: Yale News, March 2016

A new study sheds light on how melanoma cells change from benign to malignant, and how the complex interaction between the cells and their surrounding environment affects outcomes of the cancer.

The transition from the radial growth patterns of benign melanoma cells to the vertical patterns of malignant cells has long been a mystery to researchers. But a study from the lab of Andre Levchenko, the John C. Malone Professor of Biomedical Engineering and director of the Yale Systems Biology Institute, has found that the cells’ stiffness — determined by the specific balance of two signaling pathways — plays a major role in directing cell migration through the complex environment. Cells essentially sense and follow the nanoscale topography, a phenomenon the researchers have coined “topotaxis.”

The findings, published in the online edition of the journal Nature Materials on March 14, could lead to new treatments and diagnostic tests, the researchers said.

Levchenko and his colleagues found that melanoma cells in the extracellular matrix (ECM) — the body’s living tissue — migrate toward either dense or sparse areas of the matrix. Benign cells veer toward the dense area, where they have little room to move and stay on the surface. Malignant cells move toward sparse areas that allow them to grab onto the fibers of the matrix and more effectively spread out.