Most images related to cancer cells originate from the cells being photographed on flat, two-dimensional surfaces, images that are later used by scientists to make conclusions regarding their behavior. Now, scientists from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have used a high-resolution microscope that enables the visualization of cancer cells in 3-D to record their signaling and interactions with the environment. The finding has the potential to help reveal the unknown biology of how cancer cells survive and make their way through living things.
"There is clear evidence that the environment strongly affects cellular behavior - thus, the value of cell culture experiments on glass must at least be questioned," Reto Fiolka, senior author of the study, said in a press release. "Our microscope is one tool that may bring us a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms that drive cancer cell behavior, since it enables high-resolution imaging in more realistic tumor environments."
The team used its unique microscope to image various skin cancer cells from patients and found that in a 3-D environment, which is where the cells normally reside, multiple melanoma cell lines and primary melanoma cells take the form of small protrusions called blebs, a process not picked up in glass slide images. The blebbing process may aid in the cancer cells' survival or help them move around more easily.
Understanding the 3-D biology of cancer cells in microenvironments is essential in order to better understand how cancer acts in the human body and create effective treatments. Due to the complexity of these images, the next step in the research process should be the development of computer platforms specially designed to extract and process information from them.
"When we conceived of this project, we first asked what we wanted to measure and then designed a microscope and analytical platform to achieve this goal," said co-first author Erik Welf. "We hope that now instead of asking what we can measure, scientists will ask what we must measure in order to make meaningful contributions to cancer cell biology."
The findings were published in the Feb. 22 issue of Developmental Cell.
