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Lab-on-a-CD Platform for Generating Multicellular Three-dimensional Spheroids
Published on: November 7, 2019
Mechanical control of cell flow in multicellular spheroids
Morgan Delarue1, Fabien Montel, Ouriel Caen
1Physicochimie Curie (Institut Curie, CNRS-UMR168, UPMC), Centre de Recherche, 26 rue d'Ulm, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, France.
Physical Review Letters
|April 16, 2013
Summary
Physiological gradients drive collective cell motion and cellular flow in multicellular spheroids. Mechanical stress significantly reduces this flow, a phenomenon explained by a hydrodynamic model.
Area of Science:
- Cellular dynamics
- Biophysics
- Tumor microenvironment
Background:
- Collective cell motion is crucial in biological processes, including tumor development.
- Physiological gradients (nutrients, growth factors, oxygen) influence cell proliferation within tumors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how physiological gradients drive cellular flow in multicellular spheroids.
- To analyze the impact of mechanical stress on this cellular flow.
- To model the observed phenomena using hydrodynamics.
Main Methods:
- Utilized fluorescently labeled particles to track cellular movement.
- Experimented with multicellular spheroids under varying conditions.
- Developed a hydrodynamic model incorporating particle convection.
Main Results:
- Physiological gradients were shown to induce a velocity field and cellular flow in spheroids.
- Mechanical stress was found to drastically reduce the cellular flow.
- The hydrodynamic model accurately described particle convection driven by cellular flow.
Conclusions:
- Physiological gradients are key drivers of collective cell motion in multicellular systems.
- Mechanical forces play a significant role in regulating cellular flow dynamics.
- Hydrodynamic modeling provides a framework for understanding gradient-driven cell movement.

