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| Invited Talk, Saturday, 09:00 – 09:30 |
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| Cancer Cell Motility in 3D
Denis Wirtz
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular
Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Maryland Hall 221, 3400 North Charles
Street, Baltimore MD 21218, USA |
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| Contact:
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Two-dimensional (2D) in vitro culture systems have for a number
of years provided a controlled and versatile environment for the study
of cell adhesion and migration, two interrelated cell functions critical
to cancer metastasis. However, the organization and functions of focal
adhesion proteins in cells embedded in physiologically more relevant 3D
matrices is qualitatively and functionally different from their organization
and functions on conventional 2D planar substrates. In a 3D, crosslinked,
fibrillar collagen matrix, cell migration and protrusion activity are still
regulated by focal adhesion proteins, such as p130Cas, FAK, Zyxin, Vinculin,
Talin, and VASP, but differently from the 2D case. This talk will describe
the implications of the dependence of focal adhesion protein-based cellular
functions on microenvironmental dimensionality in cancer. We will discuss
the implications of this work in cancer metastasis. |
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