Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Quantitative Visualization and Detection of Skin Cancer Using Dynamic Thermal Imaging
Published on: May 5, 2011
Quantitative phase imaging unravels new insight into dynamics of mesenchymal and amoeboid cancer cell invasion
Ondřej Tolde1,2, Aneta Gandalovičová1,2, Aneta Křížová3,4
1Department of Cell Biology, Charles University, Viničná 7, Prague, Czech Republic.
Abstract:
Observation and analysis of cancer cell behaviour in 3D environment is essential for full understanding of the mechanisms of cancer cell invasion. However, label-free imaging of live cells in 3D conditions is optically more challenging than in 2D. Quantitative phase imaging provided by coherence controlled holographic microscopy produces images with enhanced information compared to ordinary light microscopy and, due to inherent coherence gate effect, enables observation of live cancer cells' activity even in scattering milieu such as the 3D collagen matrix. Exploiting the dynamic phase differences method, we for the first time describe dynamics of differences in cell mass distribution in 3D migrating mesenchymal and amoeboid cancer cells, and also demonstrate that certain features are shared by both invasion modes. We found that amoeboid fibrosarcoma cells' membrane blebbing is enhanced upon constriction and is also occasionally present in mesenchymally invading cells around constricted nuclei. Further, we demonstrate that both leading protrusions and leading pseudopods of invading fibrosarcoma cells are defined by higher cell mass density. In addition, we directly document bundling of collagen fibres by protrusions of mesenchymal fibrosarcoma cells. Thus, such a non-invasive microscopy offers a novel insight into cellular events during 3D invasion.
Related Concept Videos
Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Phase Transitions
Dynamic Equilibrium
Phase Diagrams
Phase Transitions: Sublimation and Deposition
Protein Dynamics in Living Cells
Fluorescent recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) is a fluorescent-protein-based detection technique used to quantify protein movement rates within the cell. This method exposes a small portion of the cell to an intense laser beam. The laser beam causes permanent photobleaching of the fluorophore-tagged proteins in the exposed region. As the bleached...

