Models of cancer cell migration and cellular imaging and analysis

The present topic focuses on the different cellular imaging technologies available to monitor and to characterize the migratory behavior of cancer cells. To this aim, we consider two aspects that greatly influence the choice of an adapted imaging technology. The first one concerns the different levels of investigation which can be considered (and combined) to efficiently analyze cell migration, going from a global analysis of the behavior of a cell population to a focus on the motility apparatus of a single cell. The Correspondence/Reprint request: Dr. Christine Decaestecker, Laboratoire de Toxicologie – Institut de Pharmacie Université Libre de Bruxelles – CP 205/1, Campus de la Plaine – Boulevard du Triomphe 1050 Brussels – Belgium. E-mail: [email protected] Olivier Debeir et al. 124 second aspect relates to the biological models available to provide information about the process of tumor cell dispersal through imaging. We then analyze the pros and cons, as well as the complementary aspects, of these different models by taking into account their ability to mimic the in vivo reality and the resulting imaging requirements. The following two sections are dedicated to descriptions of the different imaging technologies available for the monitoring of cell migration in the different environments proposed by the biological models, and the methods allowing for the quantitative image-based analyses of this cell process. Before concluding our review, we briefly describe a number of software packages available for cellular imaging and analysis.