Wide screens for genes involved in the regulation of cell migration are carried by Suha Naffar Abu-Amara, using high-throughput microscopy (see below). In these screens, stationary cells were plated on a monolayer of microbeads, after being infected with genes derived from a highly metastatic breast carcinoma cell line (MDA231-MB) or after expressing in the non-migrating cells fulllength cDNA encoding a variety of cancer related proteins. Cell migratory activity was monitored and quantified by analyzing the phagokinetic tracks formed by the cells. Candidate genes are now being evaluated for their role in cancer invasion and metastasis.
Variations in cell adhesion and migration were also investigated in multiple myeloma. Liat Nadav (in collaboration with B. Katz, Tel Aviv-Sourasky Medical Center) discovered that cultured plasma cells (line ARH-77) form heterogeneous cultures, containing an adhesive (type A) and non-adhesive (type F) sub-populations. Type A and F cells were shown to differ also in their migratory activity, surface markers, gene expression profiles and tumorigenic activity in mice. Interestingly, the differences between these lines appear to be non-genetic, and each sub-population re-diversify into both types following cultivation under non-selective conditions.
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