Lecturer: Prof. Herbert Levine, Northeastern University
Abstract:
Until very recently, most cancer biologists operated with the assumption that the most common route to metastasis involved cells of the primary tumor transforming to a motile single-cell phenotype. This change allowed them to migrate individually to distant organs, eventually leading to clonal growths in other locations.
But, a new more nuanced picture has been emerging, based on advanced measurements and on computational approaches to the underlying biophysical mechanisms. It has now been realized that cells can readily adopt states with hybrid properties, use these properties to move collectively and cooperatively, and reach distant niches as highly metastatic clusters replete with “stem-like” capabilities. This talk will focus on the accumulating evidence for this revised perspective, the role of biological physics theory in instigating this whole line of investigation, and on open questions currently under investigation.