Breakthrough IISc Research Reveals How Cancer Cells Adapt During Metastasis | Bengaluru News

Cells stained with red for their actin skeleton and with blue for their nucleus navigating through a tissue-like environment (in green) showing diverse shapes and morphologies. | (Credit: IISc)

BENGALURU: Indian Institute of Science (IISc) researchers uncovered how cancer cells adapt their movement patterns based on their surrounding tissue environment.
“The spread of tumour from the primary cancer site to distant organs, called metastasis, puzzled scientists for many years – they are only now beginning to pinpoint triggers and mechanisms that drive this process,” IISc said Friday.
IISc’s new study shows how inherent variations in a cancer cell and its interactions with its surroundings mould its migration. The findings, published in the Biophysical Journal, reveal that cancer cells seem to adapt their migratory pattern depending on the physical and biochemical characteristics of their surroundings, called the microenvironment.
Researchers studied two types of ovarian cancer cells: polygonal-shaped OVCAR-3 and spindle-shaped SK-OV-3, examining their movement on surfaces mimicking healthy and diseased tissues. On soft surfaces resembling healthy tissue, both cell types moved slowly and randomly. However, their behaviour differed significantly on stiff surfaces that simulate scarred tumour tissue.

Surprisingly, the OVCAR-3 cells showed greater mobility than SK-OV-3 cells on stiffer surfaces. The researchers discovered a unique “slip” movement pattern in OVCAR-3 cells, where their movement direction didn’t align with their cell shape – contrary to typical cell behaviour where movement aligns with the cell’s front.
“To better understand these patterns, the team developed a new software toolkit combining Shannon entropy with traditional movement and shape measurements. This approach offers a more accessible alternative to existing methods, which are either too mathematical or rely on complex machine learning,” IISc said.
The toolkit enables researchers to track changes in cell behaviour over time and quantify data numerically rather than relying on verbal descriptions. Through this analysis, they identified how OVCAR-3 cells exhibit less constrained movement patterns, allowing for more diverse migration methods.
“We aim to extend our study to decipher the collective dynamics of such cancer cells, especially in more complex 3D environments. This will shed fresh light on the pathology of ovarian cancer, a disease that is characterised by rapid metastasis and high morbidity,” Ramray Bhat, Associate Professor at the Department of Developmental Biology and Genetics and corresponding author of the study, said.