Leukocytes can squeeze and change their shape to fit through small holes in a plastic membrane. When they come out the other side, they return to their normal form, which resembles a burr. The experiment is the initial phase of testing on how the immune system cells pass through pores of different sizes. A later phase of the study will examine the invasive capacity of tumor cells under different conditions, simulating the potential for metastasis.
Image submitted by Stellee Biscaia, a cell biologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Federal University of Paraná
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