Motor Control: How Does a Cancer Cell Power its Movement?
Motor Control: How Does a Cancer Cell Power its Movement?
Collections: Image Award Winners, Metastasis
2012 Award Winner
Salil Desai, Sangeeta Bhatia, Mehmet Toner and Daniel Irimia
Koch Institute at MIT, Center for Engineering in Medicine, MGH, Massachusetts General Hospital
Epi-Fluorescence and Phase Contrast Micrograph
Much of the deadly impact of cancer is due to metastasis, the spread of cancer cells to distant tissues. But what drives a cancer cell’s movementthrough the body? Here, researchers investigate the role of mitochondria, the “powerhouses” inside cancer cells, as the cells travel through tiny fluid-filled channels.
Video
Salil Desai explains how and why he took this image of cancer cells moving through microscopic channels.