Context.—: The current melanoma staging system does not account for 26% of the variance seen in melanoma-specific survival, therefore our ability to predict patient outcome is not fully elucidated. Morphology may be of greater significance than in other solid tumors, with Breslow thickness remaining the strongest prognostic indicator despite being subject to high levels of interobserver variation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell migration requires the constant modification of cellular shape by reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton. Fine-tuning of this process is critical to ensure new actin filaments are formed only at specific times and in defined regions of the cell. The Scar/WAVE complex is the main catalyst of pseudopod and lamellipodium formation during cell migration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmune responses rely on efficient and coordinated migration of immune cells to the site of infection or injury. To reach the site of immunological threat often requires long-range navigation of immune cells through complex tissue and vascular networks. Chemotaxis, cell migration steered by gradients of cell-attractive chemicals that bind sensory receptors, is central to this response.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) biosensors have proven to be an indispensable tool in cell biology and, more specifically, in the study of G-protein signalling. The best method of measuring the activation status or FRET state of a biosensor is often fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), as it does away with many disadvantages inherent to fluorescence intensity-based methods and is easily quantitated. Despite the significant potential, there is a lack of reliable FLIM-FRET biosensors, and the data processing and analysis workflows reported previously face reproducibility challenges.
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