癌症细胞的扩散途径

For the first time, scientists can see pathways to stop a deadly brain cancer in its tracks. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have imaged individual cancer cells and the routes they travel as the tumor¹ spreads. The researchers used a novel cryo-imaging technique to obtain the unprecedented² look at a mouse model of glioblastoma multiforme（多形性成胶质细胞瘤） , a particularly aggressive cancer that has no treatments to stop it from spreading.

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A description of their work, and images, is being published Sept. 1 in the journal Cancer Research.

"We're able to see things we couldn't before, and we can use these images to understand how tumor cells invade and disperse³（分散，传播） ," said Susann M. Brady-Kalnay, a professor of molecular⁴ biology and microbiology at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and senior author of the paper. #

That information, in turn, can be used to help develop and test the effectiveness of drugs and other therapies used to treat the cancer, she said. #

To obtain the view, the scientists used a model that included four different cell lines of brain cancers at various stages of tumor development and dispersion. The cancer cells were modified with fluorescent⁵ markers and implanted in the model's brain in collaboration⁶ with Biomedical Engineering Professor James Basilion's lab.

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The cryo-imaging system, developed by David Wilson, also a professor of biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve, disassembles the brain layer by layer and reassembles the model into a color three-dimensional digital image.

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Using software and algorithms（算法） designed by the researchers, they are able to differentiate⁷ the main tumor mass, the blood vessels⁸ that feed the cancer and dispersing⁹ cells. The imaging system enables them to peer at single cells and see exactly where they are in the brain.

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The lead researchers, Susan Burden-Gulley, Mohammed Qutaish and Kristin Sullivant, found that two cell lines, a human brain cancer LN229, and a rodent¹⁰ cancer CNS-1, best resemble the actions of glioblastoma multiforme in human patients. #

Reconstructions¹¹ of models of those two lines enabled the researchers to analyze¹² the extent and patterns of cancer cell migration¹³ and dispersal from tumors along blood vessels and white matter tracts¹⁴ within the brain.

The ability to produce such clear and detailed¹⁵ images, the researchers say, will be invaluable#p#分页标题#e#¹⁶ when evaluating the potency¹⁷ of drugs and other therapies designed to block dispersal of glioblastoma multiforme cells. #