Fueling Cell Invasion through Extracellular Matrix

Cell invasion through extracellular matrix (ECM) has pivotal roles in cell dispersal during development, immune cell trafficking, and cancer metastasis. Many elegant studies have revealed the specialized cellular protrusions, proteases, and distinct modes of migration invasive cells use to overcome ECM barriers. Less clear, however, is how invasive cells provide energy, specifically ATP, to power the energetically demanding membrane trafficking, F-actin polymerization, and actomyosin machinery that mediate break down, remodeling, and movement through ECMs. Here, we provide an overview of the challenges of examining ATP generation and delivery within invading cells and how recent studies using diverse invasion models, experimental approaches, and energy biosensors are revealing that energy metabolism is an integral component of cell invasive behavior that is dynamically tuned to overcome the ECM environment.

Automated summary

Invasion of cells through extracellular matrix involves specialized cellular protrusions, proteases, and distinct modes of migration. However, the mechanisms behind how invasive cells generate and deliver ATP for energy-demanding processes like membrane trafficking and actomyosin machinery remain unclear. Recent studies using diverse invasion models and energy biosensors have shown that energy metabolism is crucial for invasive behavior and is dynamically regulated to overcome the ECM environment.