With the help of high-precision tweezers, scientists take a closer look at the pseudopodia of cancer cells

With the help of the world's best tweezers, a team of researchers at the University of Copenhagen has uncovered the fundamental mechanisms of all living cells that help them explore their surroundings and even invade tissues

Using octopus-like tentacles, a cell propels itself toward its target—a bacterium—like a predator stalks its prey

With their new study, a Danish team has deepened the world's understanding of how cells use octopus-like tentacles -- filopodia -- to move around in our bodies

Although the cell has no eyes or sense of smell, its surface is loaded with ultrathin filopodia, similar to tangled octopus tentacles

The finding is not that filopodia is a sensory device - which is well established - but that when cancer cells invade new tissue, filopodia help cells move and thus rotate and mechanical movement

"Clearly, our findings are of interest to cancer researchers

For this reason, researchers from the Danish Cancer Society Research Center were part of the team behind the discovery

According to Paul Martin Bendix, the mechanical function of filopodia can be likened to a rubber band

"They're able to bend -- twist, if you will -- in a way that allows them to explore the entire space around the cell, and they can even penetrate tissue in the surrounding environment," said lead author Natasha Raison say

The mechanism discovered by the Danish researchers appears to be present in all living cells

Study cells with the world's best tweezers

The project involved an interdisciplinary collaboration, with the institute's Associate Professor Amin Duster Mohammadi leading a research group that mimics bioactive materials, who contributed to the modeling of filopodia behavior

Paul Martin-Bendix explained: "It is very interesting that we can simulate the mechanical movements we see under the microscope completely independent of the chemical and biological details

The team was able to be the first to describe the mechanical behavior of filiform foot deformities mainly because NBI has unique equipment for this type of experiment, as well as skilled researchers with extensive experience working with optical tweezers

"At NBI, we have some of the best optical tweezers in the world for biomechanical research
.
The experiment required the use of multiple optical tweezers and the deployment of ultrafine microscopes at the same time
.
"

Filopodia rotate and coil by actively generating twist in their actin shaft