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Mechano-Regulated Intercellular Waves Among Cancer Cells

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1 Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida (UF), Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
2 Key Laboratory of Medical Electrophysiology, Ministry of Education & Medical Electrophysiological Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Institute of Cardiovascular Research, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China
3 UF Health Cancer Center (UFHCC), Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
4 Department of Physics, University of Florida (UF), Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
5 Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, TX, 77546, USA

* Corresponding Author: Xin Tang. Email:

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences 2024, 32(1), 1-2. https://doi.org/10.32604/icces.2024.011126

Abstract

Cancer accounts for 12.6% of all human deaths worldwide and 90% of cancer-related deaths are due to metastasis: the dissemination of invasive tumor cells from the primary tumors to other vital organs [1-3]. However, how these invasive tumor cells coordinate with each other to achieve the dissemination remains unclear. Recently we discovered that human tumor cells can initiate and transmit previously unknown long-distance (~100s m) intercellular biochemical waves in a microenvironment-mechanics-regulated manner. [4-5] In this presentation, we will present our new results on (1) the 2D/3D spatial-temporal characterization of the long-distance and the intra-/inter-cellular Ca²⁺ signals; (2) the functional influences of mechanical microenvironment on the spatial-temporal properties of Ca²⁺ dynamics (i.e., signaling symphony); and (3) the molecular mechanisms and biological consequences of the Ca²⁺ dynamics during tumor progression and metastasis in vivo. To our knowledge, this study is the 1st report that shows the detailed characterization and mechanistic dissection of long-distance Ca²⁺ waves in human cancer cells [4-5]. Our results advance the understanding of the mechano-regulated functions/mechanisms of Ca²⁺ signals in human cancer and potentially contribute to the development of new therapies for tumor suppression.

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