Phosphorescence-based O2 sensing reveals size-dependent survival and motility of metastatic prostate cancer cells in self-generated hypoxia
Summary: Cancer cells in solid tumors experience hypoxia, a condition of low O2 concentration, since their O2 demand exceeds the supply from the surrounding vasculature. However, how these cells adapt to hypoxia requires further elucidation. Here, we use a transparent phosphorescent thin film to vis...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-05-01
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| Series: | iScience |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225005863 |
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| author | Noreen Hosny Kimberly Shen Yihua Zhao Junle Qu Yusha Sun George Butler Sarah Amend Emma U. Hammarlund Robert Gatenby Joel Brown Kenneth J. Pienta Trung V. Phan Stephano Boyer-Paulet Shengkai Li Robert H. Austin |
| author_facet | Noreen Hosny Kimberly Shen Yihua Zhao Junle Qu Yusha Sun George Butler Sarah Amend Emma U. Hammarlund Robert Gatenby Joel Brown Kenneth J. Pienta Trung V. Phan Stephano Boyer-Paulet Shengkai Li Robert H. Austin |
| author_sort | Noreen Hosny |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: Cancer cells in solid tumors experience hypoxia, a condition of low O2 concentration, since their O2 demand exceeds the supply from the surrounding vasculature. However, how these cells adapt to hypoxia requires further elucidation. Here, we use a transparent phosphorescent thin film to visualize the self-generated hypoxia field of prostate cancer cells and quantify local O2 consumption rates, measured locally as the Laplacian of the O2 field. Single-cell tracking on steep O2 gradients revealed that larger cells exhibit higher motility and moderate migration bias toward O2-rich regions. Termination of hypoxia before cessation of O2 consumption shifted cell distributions to larger sizes, whereas prolonged hypoxia induced apoptosis, producing cell populations of smaller areas post-hypoxia. Such resilience to hypoxia was absent for noncancerous fibroblasts. Our findings suggest that larger PC3 cells have enhanced metabolic fitness under hypoxia, identifying these cells as potential targets of cancer therapy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-54cde002ec0e4166828e7d06b2a32d6f |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2589-0042 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | iScience |
| spelling | doaj-art-54cde002ec0e4166828e7d06b2a32d6f2025-08-20T02:15:11ZengElsevieriScience2589-00422025-05-0128511232510.1016/j.isci.2025.112325Phosphorescence-based O2 sensing reveals size-dependent survival and motility of metastatic prostate cancer cells in self-generated hypoxiaNoreen Hosny0Kimberly Shen1Yihua Zhao2Junle Qu3Yusha Sun4George Butler5Sarah Amend6Emma U. Hammarlund7Robert Gatenby8Joel Brown9Kenneth J. Pienta10Trung V. Phan11Stephano Boyer-Paulet12Shengkai Li13Robert H. Austin14Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA; Corresponding authorDepartment of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USACollege of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, ChinaCollege of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China; Corresponding authorDepartment of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USAJohns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD, USAJohns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD, USALund University Cancer Centre, Lund, SwedenMoffitt Cancer Centre, Tampa, FL, USAMoffitt Cancer Centre, Tampa, FL, USAJohns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD, USA; Corresponding authorJohns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, MD, USADepartment of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USADepartment of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USADepartment of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USASummary: Cancer cells in solid tumors experience hypoxia, a condition of low O2 concentration, since their O2 demand exceeds the supply from the surrounding vasculature. However, how these cells adapt to hypoxia requires further elucidation. Here, we use a transparent phosphorescent thin film to visualize the self-generated hypoxia field of prostate cancer cells and quantify local O2 consumption rates, measured locally as the Laplacian of the O2 field. Single-cell tracking on steep O2 gradients revealed that larger cells exhibit higher motility and moderate migration bias toward O2-rich regions. Termination of hypoxia before cessation of O2 consumption shifted cell distributions to larger sizes, whereas prolonged hypoxia induced apoptosis, producing cell populations of smaller areas post-hypoxia. Such resilience to hypoxia was absent for noncancerous fibroblasts. Our findings suggest that larger PC3 cells have enhanced metabolic fitness under hypoxia, identifying these cells as potential targets of cancer therapy.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225005863BiotechnologyTechnical aspects of cell biologyCancer |
| spellingShingle | Noreen Hosny Kimberly Shen Yihua Zhao Junle Qu Yusha Sun George Butler Sarah Amend Emma U. Hammarlund Robert Gatenby Joel Brown Kenneth J. Pienta Trung V. Phan Stephano Boyer-Paulet Shengkai Li Robert H. Austin Phosphorescence-based O2 sensing reveals size-dependent survival and motility of metastatic prostate cancer cells in self-generated hypoxia iScience Biotechnology Technical aspects of cell biology Cancer |
| title | Phosphorescence-based O2 sensing reveals size-dependent survival and motility of metastatic prostate cancer cells in self-generated hypoxia |
| title_full | Phosphorescence-based O2 sensing reveals size-dependent survival and motility of metastatic prostate cancer cells in self-generated hypoxia |
| title_fullStr | Phosphorescence-based O2 sensing reveals size-dependent survival and motility of metastatic prostate cancer cells in self-generated hypoxia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Phosphorescence-based O2 sensing reveals size-dependent survival and motility of metastatic prostate cancer cells in self-generated hypoxia |
| title_short | Phosphorescence-based O2 sensing reveals size-dependent survival and motility of metastatic prostate cancer cells in self-generated hypoxia |
| title_sort | phosphorescence based o2 sensing reveals size dependent survival and motility of metastatic prostate cancer cells in self generated hypoxia |
| topic | Biotechnology Technical aspects of cell biology Cancer |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225005863 |
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