Dresden 2011 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 30: Posters: Physics of Cells

BP 30.14: Poster

Thursday, March 17, 2011, 17:15–20:00, P3

Interplay Between Compartmentalization of Cells and Tumor Spreading — •Steve Pawlizak, Anatol Fritsch, Mareike Zink, and Josef A. Käs — Institute for Experimental Physics I, Soft Matter Physics Division, University of Leipzig, Germany

The formation of cellular compartments is a universal and essential process during embryonic development. It generates well-defined boundaries and barriers for various differentiated cell types. Cells of the same type adhere better to each other, whereas mixtures of different migrating cell types segregate. Studies in the field of developmental biology show that the interplay between single cell biomechanics, cell adhesion, and cell migration contributes to the formation of cellular compartments by causing a surface tension at the compartment boundaries.

In this context, we investigate to which extend the physical principles described above affect tumor growth and spreading between compartments. It has been observed that metastasis and tumor aggressiveness are correlated with a loss of epithelial characteristics and the acquirement of a migratory phenotype. Due to this behavior, tumor cells are able to overcome compartment boundaries. Further studies indicate that surface tension plays a crucial role for tumor progression, but this has not been systematically investigated so far. We apply a variety of techniques such as ``Optical Stretching'', scanning force microscopy, and droplet cultures to study the cellular mechanical properties and interactions of healthy and malignant cells.