Quantitative Analysis of Collective Migration by Single-Cell Tracking Aimed at Understanding Cancer Metastasis.

Metastasis is a major complication of cancer treatments. Studies of the migratory behavior of cells are needed to investigate and control metastasis. Metastasis is based on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, in which epithelial cells acquire mesenchymal properties and the ability to leave the population to invade other regions of the body.

Time-Series Clustering of Single-Cell Trajectories in Collective Cell Migration.

Collective invasion drives multicellular cancer cells to spread to surrounding normal tissues. To fully comprehend metastasis, the methodology of analysis of individual cell migration in tissue should be well developed. Extracting and classifying cells with similar migratory characteristics in a colony would facilitate an understanding of complex cell migration patterns.