3D cancer cell migration in collagen matrices

International audienceCell migration is a widely studied subject but often limited to 2D motion (Sheetz et al., 1999) on various substrates for it allows to simplify cell-substrate interactions. The important relevant parameters to 2D cell migration are substrate rigidity, adhesion, and the role of the cell cytoskeleton. More recently, new studies on 3D cell migration have been performed thanks to the development of new visualization tools such as reflectance confocal microscopy (Iordan et al. 2010, Wolf et al. 2013). In particular, it is possible to image cell and the extra-cellular matrix at the same time. This leads to interesting applications on cancer cell migration, and could possibly open new routes to the understanding of cancer development, like the mechanisms used by cancer cells to invade new tissues.Thus, the aim of this study is to study cancer migration in collagen matrices, as a model of soft tissue, to investigate their motility within the surrounding collagen matrix. Different collagen concentrations will be used and the ability of these cancer cells to move through such a complex structure will be addressed. To this aim, first results of cell migration velocity as well as the Mean Squared Displacement (MSD) will be analyzed