Flat clathrin lattices are linked to metastatic potential in colorectal cancer
Charlotte Cresens,
Guillermo Solís-Fernández,
Astha Tiwari,
Rik Nuyts,
Johan Hofkens,
Rodrigo Barderas,
Susana Rocha
Affiliations
Charlotte Cresens
Molecular Imaging and Photonics Division, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Guillermo Solís-Fernández
Molecular Imaging and Photonics Division, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium; Chronic Disease Programme, UFIEC, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28220 Madrid, Spain
Astha Tiwari
Molecular Imaging and Photonics Division, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Rik Nuyts
Molecular Imaging and Photonics Division, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Johan Hofkens
Molecular Imaging and Photonics Division, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium; Department of Molecular Spectroscopy, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, 55128 Mainz, Germany
Rodrigo Barderas
Chronic Disease Programme, UFIEC, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28220 Madrid, Spain
Susana Rocha
Molecular Imaging and Photonics Division, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium; Corresponding author
Summary: Clathrin assembles at the cells’ plasma membrane in a multitude of clathrin-coated structures (CCSs). Among these are flat clathrin lattices (FCLs), alternative clathrin structures that have been found in specific cell types, including cancer cells. Here we show that these structures are also present in different colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines, and that they are extremely stable with lifetimes longer than 8 h. By combining cell models representative of CRC metastasis with advanced fluorescence imaging and analysis, we discovered that the metastatic potential of CRC is associated with an aberrant membranous clathrin distribution, resulting in a higher prevalence of FCLs in cells with a higher metastatic potential. These findings suggest that clathrin organization might play an important yet unexplored role in cancer metastasis.
