Is there any gold standard method of identifying a metastatic cancer cell from a non metastatic cancer cell? Is there any molecular assay available to differentiate these two type of cancerous cell?
In my own opinion, the response is NO!
The metastatic process relies to an amazingly complex relationhsip between multiple cell populations, i.e. cancer stem cells, cancer cells, cancer-associated cells (fibroblasts, imune-system related cells, endothelial cells, etc...), etc...
It will be always possible to obtain "genomic", "transcriptomic", "xxxomic", "yyy"omic", etc..., signatures between various types of isolated cancer cells (growing in plastic flasks) issued from primary sites versus metastatic sites. Are any of these "signatures" robust? Very diificult to say.
Here attached are various articles illustrating how complex is the metastatic process.
Now, if you actually want to focus on "isolated cancer cells coming from a nasty biological environment", you should pay a particular attention to cancer circulating cells (or tumor circulating cells). Here attached are also very interesting articles on this subject.
Best regards
Robert
Hello Sanjeet,
Owing to the heterogeneous nature of each cancer and cancer cells within the same individual, it is difficult to have a single assay that differentiates metastatic from non metastatic cancers.
A good starting point would be to assay specific cellular markers for the type of cancer you are investigating.
I pulled this from PubMed, it might help you get started.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK164700/
Good luck
Metastasis, the process that allows some cancer cells to break off from their tumor of origin and take root in a different tissue, is the most common reason people die from cancer.
Metastatic breast cancer cells move not only more rapidly and persistently than their non-metastatic variants but in doing so use the mechanical work of the cytoskeleton more efficiently. The efficiency of the cell motions is defined for entire cells (rather than parts of the cell membrane) and is related to the work expended in forming membrane protrusions and retractions. This work, in turn, is estimated by integrating the protruded and retracted areas along the entire cell perimeter and is standardized with respect to the net translocation of the cell. A combination of cross-correlation, Granger causality, and morphodynamic profiling analyses is then used to relate the efficiency to the cell membrane dynamics. In metastatic cells, the protrusions and retractions are highly “synchronized” both in space and in time and these cells move efficiently. In contrast, protrusions and retractions formed by non-metastatic cells are not “synchronized” corresponding to low motility efficiencies. Our work provides a link between the kinematics of cell motions and their energetics. It also suggests that spatiotemporal synchronization might be one of the hallmarks of invasiveness of cancerous cells. (http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2013/ib/c3ib40144h#!divAbstract).
In my own opinion, the response is NO!
The metastatic process relies to an amazingly complex relationhsip between multiple cell populations, i.e. cancer stem cells, cancer cells, cancer-associated cells (fibroblasts, imune-system related cells, endothelial cells, etc...), etc...
It will be always possible to obtain "genomic", "transcriptomic", "xxxomic", "yyy"omic", etc..., signatures between various types of isolated cancer cells (growing in plastic flasks) issued from primary sites versus metastatic sites. Are any of these "signatures" robust? Very diificult to say.
Here attached are various articles illustrating how complex is the metastatic process.
Now, if you actually want to focus on "isolated cancer cells coming from a nasty biological environment", you should pay a particular attention to cancer circulating cells (or tumor circulating cells). Here attached are also very interesting articles on this subject.
Best regards
Robert
Invasion assay will never make a distinction between a metastatic and a non-metastatic cancer cell!
Best regards
Robert
Indeed in vitro assays won't give any idea since metastasis is an in vivo process.
Keeping track on the expression level of mesenchymal cell marker will help to distinguish from non-metastatic cancer cell. You can look at the relative expression of molecules that helps to protect cell-cell and cell-matrix interaction.
#EMT #CAMs
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