Single-cell tracking reveals super-spreading cells with high persistence in invasive brain cancer

Abstract

Cell migration is a fundamental characteristic of vital processes such as tissue morphogenesis, wound healing and immune cell homing to lymph nodes and inflamed or infected sites. Therefore, various brain defect diseases, chronic inflammatory diseases as well as tumor formation and metastasis are associated with aberrant or absent cell migration. With embedment of multicellular brain cancer spheroids in Matrigel and single-particle tracking, we extracted the paths of cells migrating away from the spheroids. We found that - in contrast to local invasion - single cell migration is independent of the mechanical load exerted by the environment and is characterized by high directionality and persistence. Furthermore, we identified a subpopulation of super-spreading cells with >200-fold longer persistence times than the majority of cells. These results highlight yet another aspect of between-cell heterogeneity in tumors.