Cell contractility drives mechanical memory of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Matrix stiffening is ubiquitous in solid tumors and can direct epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer cell migration. Stiffened niche can even cause poorly invasive oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines to acquire a less adherent, more migratory phenotype, but mechanisms and durability of this acquired "mechanical memory" are unclear. Here, we observed that contractility and its downstream signals could underlie memory acquisition; invasive SSC25 cells overexpress myosin II (vs. noninvasive Cal27 cells) consistent with OSCC. However, prolonged exposure of Cal27 cells to a stiff niche or contractile agonists up-regulated myosin and EMT markers and enabled them to migrate as fast as SCC25 cells, which persisted even when the niche softened and indicated "memory" of their prior niche. Stiffness-mediated mesenchymal phenotype acquisition required AKT signaling and was also observed in patient samples, whereas phenotype recall on soft substrates required focal adhesion kinase (FAK) activity. Phenotype durability was further observed in transcriptomic differences between preconditioned Cal27 cells cultured without or with FAK or AKT antagonists, and such transcriptional differences corresponded to discrepant patient outcomes. These data suggest that mechanical memory, mediated by contractility via distinct kinase signaling, may be necessary for OSCC to disseminate.

Glycation of collagen matrices promotes breast tumor cell invasion.

Cancer metastasis is a physical process in which tumor cells break away from the primary tumor, enter, and then exit the blood or lymph vessels, and establish secondary tumors in distant organs. Current clinical studies report a higher risk of cancer metastasis for diabetics than non-diabetics. However, due to complex overlapping risk factors between diabetes and cancer, the mechanism underlying this correlation is largely unknown. Elevated lifetime blood sugar levels in diabetics are known to increase glycation of collagen, causing stiffening of the ECM and connective tissue. In this study, we explored the roles of glycation of 3D collagen matrices in tumor cell invasion and migration. Using time-lapse images, we quantitatively compared the motility behavior of malignant breast tumor cells (MDA-MB-231) and co-culture spheroids (1:1 ratio of MDA-MB-231 cells with normal epithelial MCF-10A cells) embedded in glycated and non-glycated collagen matrices of various concentrations. Experimental results demonstrated that glycation increased tumor invasion within collagen matrices. More specifically, the average speed of MDA-MB-231 cells was higher in glycated collagen gels than in non-glycated collagen gels for all three gel concentrations tested. Cell spreading characterized by its diffusion coefficient or the effective spheroid radii at various time points was significantly greater in glycated collagen than in non-glycated collagen at a concentration of 3.5 mg/mL. This enhancement was moderate and less evident at lower collagen concentrations of 1.0 and 2.0 mg/mL. These results suggest a possible biomechanical link that relates to the high blood sugar level in diabetic patients and the cancer metastatic outcome.

Diametrically disubstituted cyclam derivative having Hg2+-selective fluoroionophoric behaviors.

[reaction: see text] A new fluoroionophore has been synthesized by appending two signaling pyrenylacetamide subunits on the binding motif of 1,8-dimethylcyclam. The designed compound exhibited highly selective and sensitive fluoroionophoric behavior toward Hg(2+) ions of excimer emission in aqueous dioxane (dioxane/H(2)O = 1:9, v/v) solution with a detection limit of 1.3 x 10(-)(6) M. The "ON-OFF" type signaling behavior of the fluoroionophore is due to the metal ion induced conformational changes from folded to open-winged conformations by exploiting the two nearby appended pyrenyl fluorophores.

New Hg2+-selective chromo- and fluoroionophore based upon 8-hydroxyquinoline.

A new 8-hydroxyquinoline derivative having an appended boron-dipyrromethene function has been prepared, and its metal ion sensing properties were investigated. The designed compound exhibited pronounced Hg(2+)-selective on-off-type fluoroionophoric properties among the representative transition- and heavy-metal ions in aqueous dioxane solution. The fluorescence was efficiently quenched more than 98% with 5 equiv of Hg(2+) ions, and the detection limit was found to be 5 x 10(-)(6) M in a dioxane-water (1:3, v/v) solvent system. The ionophore also showed a selective chromogenic behavior toward Hg(2+) ions by changing the color of the solution from light amber to red, which can be detected with the naked eye.