3rd ibiTea on September 21, 2021: This event took place in the past, the registration is closed.
Migration and Cell Motility: Where to Go?
These topics are waiting for you:
Calcium and Reactive Oxygen Species in Cancer Cell Motility
Presented by Nuno Saraiva, PhD, Universidade Lusófona, Portugal
Human glioblastoma spheroids invading an extracellular matrix (stained with DAPI and phalloidin)
Nanoparticles Interfere with Chemotaxis: An Example of Nanoparticles as Molecular "Knockouts" at the Cellular Level
Presented by Xi Zhang, Fujian Medical University, China
Representative brightfield micrographs from time-lapse experiments with an overlay of colored trajectories of tracked THP-1 cells at the beginning (0 h) and the end (24 h) of monitoring, and their corresponding trajectory plots over 24 h: A) MCP-1-induced THP-1 standard chemotaxis experiment; B) negative control
The Influence of Extracellular Matrix on Neutrophil Function and Its Possible Linkage to Inflammatory Diseases
Presented by Richard-Felix Kraus, University of Regensburg, Germany
Segmented neutrophil granulocytes in Pappenheim-stained blood cell smears (graphic provided by the Laboratory for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology at the University Medical Centre Regensburg)
ibiTea Topic Outline
Cell motility, specifically cell invasion, plays an important role in the dissemination of cancer cells from the primary tumor site to distant tissues. While the severity and mortality of most cancers are frequently related to cell invasion and their ability to spread and invade other parts of the organism, the pharmacological approach to these oncological diseases relies mainly on anti-proliferative or cytotoxic drugs.
Nuno Saraiva, our first presenter, will explain how cancer cell migration involves the intricate coordination of adhesion and cytoskeletal remodeling that various cellular processes can influence, including metabolism, intracellular and extracellular pH, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, Ca2+ fluxes, and membrane trafficking. In this context, various ROS and Ca2+ signaling-associated proteins can potentially be used as cancer progression biomarkers or targets to prevent cancer cell dissemination.
Our second presenter, Xi Zhang, will show how engineered colloidal nanoparticles can interfere with chemotaxis. The hypothesis that molecules, which control cellular behavior, will be less bioavailable in the presence of appropriately-functionalized nanoparticles, and therefore the cellular behavior will be altered, was investigated. Three-dimensional chemotaxis assays for the characterization and comparison of THP-1 cell migration upon exposure to a gradient of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), with and without gold nanoparticles with four different surface chemistries, were performed. By time-lapse microscopy, characteristic parameters for chemotaxis, along with velocity and directionality of the cells, were quantified. Anionic poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate)-coated gold nanoparticles were found to reduce THP-1 chemotaxis significantly.
Unregulated inflammatory response of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) within tissues plays a key role in the pathophysiology of several diseases. Our third presentation from Richard-Felix Kraus will discuss new insights regarding the influence of the extracellular matrix (ECM) on PMN function, especially neutrophil migration, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the release of myeloperoxidase (MPO), and NETosis. By establishing an in vitro chemotaxis model of type I and III collagen, fibrin, and herbal agarose tissues using ibidi µ-Slide Chemotaxis devices and N-formylmethionine-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP), PMN were assessed with a fluorescent time-lapse microscope for live-cell imaging within the matrices. Since the ECM obviously influences PMN function, the interaction of PMN with the respective matrix could be an essential mechanism in the pathophysiology of distinct inflammatory diseases.
Speakers
Nuno Saraiva, PhD
Universidade Lusófona, Portugal
Nuno Saraiva finished his PhD in Cell Biology and Virology from Imperial College, London, in 2012, and then worked as a Postdoc at the University of Cambridge. He later moved to Portugal, where he is currently a Principal Investigator at CBIOS and an Assistant Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at Universidade Lusófona. His research focuses on the impact of Ca2+ and redox signaling on cellular processes associated with cancer progression.
Xi Zhang
Fujian Medical University, China
Xi Zhang received her B.S. degree in clinical pharmacy in 2012 and her Master of Medicine degree in pharmaceutical analysis in 2015 at Fujian Medical University, working on developing various optical and electrochemical biosensors for early diagnosis of diseases. She earned her PhD degree in chemistry in 2020 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) with research interests in the interaction and the impact of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in biological systems. After working as a Postdoctoral Researcher in UIUC for one year, she is currently an Assistant Professor at Fujian Medical University.
Richard-Felix Kraus
University of Regensburg, Germany
Richard studied medicine at the University of Regensburg. Since 2018, he has been working on his dissertation, "Chemotaxis of human granulocytes in a three-dimensional gel matrix model" in the research group of Dr. Michael Gruber at the Laboratory of Anesthesiology, University of Regensburg.
