Collective cancer cell invasion requires RNA accumulation at the invasive front
George Chrisafis, Tianhong Wang, Konstadinos Moissoglu, Alexander N. Gasparski, Yeap Ng, Roberto Weigert, Stephen Lockett, Stavroula Mili
Abstract
Significance Specific RNAs are enriched at protrusive regions of migrating cells. This localization is important for cell migration on 2D surfaces. However, in vivo, tumor cells navigate complex 3D environments often in collective groups. Here, we investigated protrusion-enriched RNAs during collective 3D invasion. We show that specific RNAs exhibit a striking accumulation at the front of invasive leader cells. We provide insights into the mechanism underlying RNA accumulation at the invasive front, and we further demonstrate that it is required for efficient 3D invasion of tumor cells. We additionally observe RNA enrichment at invasive sites of in vivo tumors, supporting the physiological relevance of this mechanism and suggesting a targeting opportunity for perturbing cancer cell invasion.