PMID: 11929834Apr 4, 2002Paper

Collective cell movement in primary melanoma explants: plasticity of cell-cell interaction, beta1-integrin function, and migration strategies

Cancer Research
Yael HegerfeldtP Friedl

Abstract

Collective cell movement represents an efficient dissemination strategy in neoplastic epithelial and mesenchymal cancer. In primary melanoma explants cultured in three-dimensional collagen lattices, invasive migration of multicellular clusters was dependent on the function of beta1 integrins, as shown by preferential beta1-integrin expression and clustering in a subset of promigratory cells at the leading edge ("guiding cells") and the abrogation of multicellular migration by adhesion-perturbing anti-beta1-integrin antibody. Interference with beta1-integrin function induced complex changes in cluster polarity and cohesion, including development of two or several opposing leading edges, cluster disruption, and the detachment of individual cells followed by beta1-integrin-independent "amoeboid" crawling and dissemination. The conversion from beta1-integrin-dependent collective movement to beta1-integrin-independent single-cell motility suggests efficient cellular and molecular plasticity in tumor cell migration strategies.

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