The metastatic process, ie the dissemination of cancer cells throughout the body to seed
secondary tumors at distant sites, requires cancer cells to leave the primary tumor and to …

Malignant cancer cells utilize their intrinsic migratory ability to invade adjacent tissues and
the vasculature, and ultimately to metastasize. Cell migration is the sum of multi-step …

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex network of extracellular-secreted
macromolecules, such as collagen, enzymes and glycoproteins, whose main functions deal …

Interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix coordinate signaling pathways that
control various aspects of cellular behavior. Integrins sense the physical properties of the …

Actin filaments are major components of at least 15 distinct structures in metazoan cells.
These filaments assemble from a common pool of actin monomers, but do so at different …

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological malignancy. It is usually diagnosed at a late
stage, with a 5-yr survival rate of< 30%. The majority of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed …

Oncogene activation and tumor-suppressor gene inactivation are considered as the main
causes driving the transformation of normal somatic cells into malignant tumor cells. Cancer …

Cancer cell metastasis is a multi-stage process involving invasion into surrounding tissue,
intravasation, transit in the blood or lymph, extravasation, and growth at a new site. Many of …

Podosomes and invadopodia are unique actin-rich adhesions that establish close contact to
the substratum but can also degrade components of the extracellular matrix. Accordingly …

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is an electrokinetic method that allows intrinsic dielectric properties
of suspended cells to be exploited for discrimination and separation. It has emerged as a …