Analysis of cell migration and its regulation by Rho GTPases and p53 in a three-dimensional environment

Cell migration plays a key role both in physiological conditions, such as tissue repair or embryonic development, and in pathological processes, including tumor metastasis. Understanding the mechanisms that allow cancer cells to invade tissues during metastasis requires studying their ability to migrate. While spectacular, the movements observed in cells growing on two-dimensional supports are likely only to represent a deformation of the physiological migratory behavior. In contrast, the analysis of cell migration on a support, which resembles the three-dimensional (3D) extracellular matrix, provides a more pertinent model of physiological relevance. This chapter provides protocols to assay the ability of cells to migrate or to invade a 3D matrix and to analyze their phenotypes. The invasion assay allows the quantification of tumor cell invasiveness, and the 3D migration assay permits the visual observation of the movements and morphology of migrating cells. This chapter also describes a method to examine the localization of different markers during 3D migration. Because Rho GTPases are clearly involved in migration and invasion, a protocol is supplied to evaluate their activation during cell migration. These techniques are especially suitable to elucidate the type of motility in a 3D matrix, particularly to discriminate between two different modes of migration adopted by cancer cells: blebbing versus elongation. Indeed, the way a cell moves may have important consequences for its invasiveness, as, for example, cancer cells adopt a rounded blebbing movement when deficient in p53.