The majority of the cells in our body do not move anywhere. There are, however, exceptions to the rule: in embryonic development and in the immune system, cells seek out where they are needed.
Also in motion are the enemies of the immune system, cancer cells, which migrate in the body searching for a place for a new metastasis.
This movement is, however, not very well understood, says Guillaume Jacquemet, assistant professor of bioimaging at Åbo Akademi.
“We know that cancer cells respond to their environment, seek out places they consider favourable, and attach themselves in place with the help of proteins. But how they actually do all of this is still in many ways open.”
An essential role in this is played by filopodia, which are hair-like protrusions projecting from cell walls. With the help of filopodia, cells observe their environment and search for suitable places.
“It is clear that the filopodia of cells use various proteins with which they attach, but we do not yet understand the whole picture.”
It is the mechanisms of this movement that Guillaume seeks to elucidate in his Cell Migration research group.
The work is basic research, in which even the tools must often be developed in-house. Guillaume’s group programs systems themselves that identify cells in microscope images and are able to pay attention to relevant changes.
“All the code we make originates from the needs of our research. This enables very natural development work: we think about what we need, and then we make it.”
The group makes all tools openly available, as well as their datasets, which it deposits in public databases such as PRIDE, Zenodo, and BioImage Archive.
“In my view, offering tools for use cannot really be separated from the openness of data. Without the software, others cannot themselves verify how the data has been analysed and how the software affects the end result.”
Read more about Guillaume’s group’s research and software development:
ELIXIR is partly funded by the European Commission