![]() Andrew Holle, a cancer bioengineer at the National University of Singapore who also reviewed the study for Nature, agrees. Using media with a similar viscosity to bodily fluids may help to identify metastasis-blocking drug targets that could otherwise be missed, he says. “The vast majority of research performed in cell culture uses media with viscosities close to water,” says Konstantopoulos. Whether or not they are directly applicable in medicine, the findings may lead to changes in cell-based cancer research. Just because cells move faster in thicker solutions doesn’t necessarily mean they are more likely to form secondary cancers, he says tumor metastasis is a “very complex event which involves a long series of steps, some of which are independent of migration.” However, the findings should be interpreted with caution, says cancer biologist Jacky Goetz of INSERM in Strasbourg, France, who was not involved in the study but reviewed the manuscript for Nature. But figuring out the role-if any-that the pathway plays in normal cells is a “question that we need to address,” says study coauthor Konstantinos Konstantopoulos, a biomolecular engineer at Johns Hopkins University. Indeed, compared to healthy cells, the fluid surrounding tumor cells has a higher viscosity due to tumors’ tendency to degrade surrounding tissue and block lymphatic vessels. “Animal knockouts for the TRPV4 channels develop normally,” he says, suggesting that healthy cells may not depend on rapid migration through viscous fluids-in which case, a therapy targeting TRPV4 might not cause significant side effects. The findings point to TRPV4 as a potential target for blocking cancer metastasis, says Valverde. See “ Harboring Hard and Soft Cells Lets Tumors Grow and Metastasize Simultaneously” This suggests that without the channel, pretreatment did not affect their speed within the animals. Cells incubated for six days in a viscous solution, but that did not express the ion channel, formed fewer tumor colonies in mice than cells with functional channels that had been treated in the same way. The development of this “memory” appears to be dependent on TRPV4. ![]() The cells pretreated with high-viscosity medium also moved more rapidly in zebrafish and quickly migrated out of the bloodstream in chick embryos. Similarly, breast cancer cells incubated in a sticky medium and injected into mice metastasized more widely than those pretreated in a low-viscosity solution. Valverde and his colleagues were also surprised to find that cells possessed a “memory” of their exposure to viscous conditions: Human breast cancer cells cultured for six days in high-viscosity media and then switched to watery conditions retained their speedy movement relative to cells that had been in the less-viscous solution the whole time. “This is exciting research that adds viscosity to the list of mechanical cues that are sensed by cells and control their behavior,” says cell biologist Roberto Mayor of University College London in the UK, who was not involved in the study. They even appear to hold a memory of viscosity, continuing to move rapidly when returned to a watery medium. In syrupy surroundings, cells trigger changes in their cellular architecture that help them overcome external forces and migrate more efficiently. Now, a study published on November 2 in Nature reveals that cancer cells detect and respond to physiological levels of viscosity. See “ While the Body Rests, Breast Cancer Spreads More Aggressively” However, the experiments used fluids far more viscous than those found in the body. Previous studies have shown how, counterintuitively, cells pick up the pace as they move through thicker solutions. Unlike lab-grown cells, which are nurtured in a watery solution, cancer cells in real life encounter resistance as they move through bodily fluids. We carry hundreds of active ingredients (cosmeceuticals) with different properties and functions for making all kinds of effective, bioactive skin and hair care products.A turning point in cancer progression is metastasis, where cells break away from the primary tumor and travel throughout the body to colonize other tissues.
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