Survival of the resilient: Mechano-adaptation of circulating tumor cells to fluid shear stress

Abstract

During metastasis, cancer cells traverse the circulation to reach distant organs. Conventionally, this journey has been regarded as mechanically destructive to circulating tumor cells from solid tissues. We have recently shown that cancer cells from diverse tissues actively resist destruction by fluid shear stress through a mechano-adaptive RhoA-actomyosin mechanism.

Keywords

• fluid shear stress
• metastasis
• mechano-adaptation
• rhoa
• actomyosin