In-vivo glioma viscosity and fluidity as clinical tumor markers of vimentin expression and collective cell migration

The study examined biomechanical properties of glioblastomas using magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). Researchers found that reduced fluidity and viscosity of tumors are associated with vimentin protein expression and collective migration of cancer cells. Vimentin promotes extracellular matrix remodeling and cellular elongation, which can be measured using nuclear aspect ratio. Experiments with actin-vimentin gels confirmed the mechanistic link between tumor viscosity and cell migration. The results suggest that in-vivo tumor viscosity may serve as a noninvasive biomechanical marker of collective migration and invasiveness in brain tumors.