Osmotic stress affects functional properties of human melanoma cell lines

TL;DR

This study investigates how osmotic stress influences the motility and invasion capabilities of primary and metastatic melanoma cells, revealing differential sensitivities and providing models to predict cell behavior under osmotic conditions.

Contribution

It introduces both continuous and stochastic models to explain how osmotic pressure affects melanoma cell dynamics, advancing understanding of microenvironmental impacts on cancer progression.

Findings

Primary melanoma cells are sensitive to low osmotic pressure.

Metastatic melanoma cells are less affected by osmotic changes.

Models accurately predict cell behavior under varying osmotic conditions.

Abstract

Understanding the role of microenvironment in cancer growth and metastasis is a key issue for cancer research. Here, we study the effect of osmotic pressure on the functional properties of primary and metastatic melanoma cell lines. In particular, we experimentally quantify individual cell motility and transmigration capability. We then perform a circular scratch assay to study how a cancer cell front invades an empty space. Our results show that primary melanoma cells are sensitive to a low osmotic pressure, while metastatic cells are less. To better understand the experimental results, we introduce and study a continuous model for the dynamics of a cell layer and a stochastic discrete model for cell proliferation and diffusion. The two models capture essential features of the experimental results and allow to make predictions for a wide range of experimentally measurable parameters.