The following is a summary of “Cell volume expansion and local contractility drive collective invasion of the basement membrane in breast cancer,” published in the November 2023 issue of Dermatology by Chang et al.
Breast cancer turns aggressive when cancer cells break through a protective barrier called the basement membrane (BM), a tiny matrix layer separating the main tumor from surrounding tissues. Normally, single cells can wiggle through this matrix using enzymes or pushing open tiny spaces in a three-dimensional environment.
But how multiple cells team up to invade the basement membrane during breast cancer growth has been a puzzle. Researchers created a special lab model mimicking this invasion to figure this out. Their study revealed that these cells use both enzymes and physical forces, not specific protrusions, to breach the BM. The forces are a combination of cells swelling up (like inflating balloons), stretching the BM, and specific internal forces acting within the BM to break it, allowing the invasion to happen.
These findings show how groups of cells work together to overcome this important barrier during the spread of breast cancer. Understanding this process helps their study group grasp how cancer spreads, potentially opening doors for new ways to stop or slow down its progression to other parts of the body.
This discovery illuminates how cells collaborate, highlighting their joint effort in overcoming a crucial hurdle in the spread of cancer. By uncovering these mechanisms, the investigators gain valuable insights into the metastatic process of breast cancer.
Understanding how these cells collectively breach the barrier of the basement membrane brings their study group closer to developing targeted therapies that could disrupt this invasion, potentially hindering the progression of breast cancer to distant sites in the body. These findings pave the way for future research to devise innovative treatments focused on impeding the spread of this aggressive disease.
Source: nature.com/articles/s41563-023-01716-9
