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Unlabeled cell motility can indicate malignant or healthy cells, according to Tokyo Metropolitan University researchers. They showed that monitoring and evaluating the movements of malignant fibrosarcoma cells and healthy fibroblasts on a plate can distinguish them with 94% accuracy.
Although doctors and researchers have studied cells under the microscope for hundreds of years, most studies and assessments focus on their form, contents, and parts. Cells can shift and change throughout time.
Tracking and studying cell motion may help researchers distinguish cells with migration-dependent capabilities. Cancer metastasis rely on malignant cells’ mobility.
But it’s not as simple as it seems. For instance, investigating a small cell subset may skew results. A reliable diagnostic method requires automated, high-throughput cell tracking of a large amount of cells.
Several strategies then use fluorescent labeling to make cells easier to observe under a microscope. This labeling technique can impact their qualities. An automated label-free standard microscopy approach to measure cell motility and confirm cell health is the primary objective.
Now, Tokyo Metropolitan University researchers led by Professor Hiromi Miyoshi have developed a means of studying cells using phase-contrast microscopy, a common cell observation method.
Phase-contrast microscopy doesn’t use any labels, so cells can move around on a Petri dish closer to how they normally are. It’s also not affected by the optical properties of the plastic Petri plates that are used to take images of the cells.
Researchers identified several cell trajectories using novel image analysis. They focused on migrating speed and path curvature to illustrate small changes in deformation and movement.
Researchers examined healthy fibroblast cells, the building blocks of animal tissue, and malignant fibrosarcoma cells, cancerous cells that originate from fibrous connective tissue. They showed that the cells migrated differently based on the “sum of turn angles” (how curved the routes were), shallow turn frequency, and speed.
They could accurately predict malignant cells with 94% accuracy by calculating the sum of turn angles and how frequent they made shallow bends.
The team’s discovery could be used to study cell motility-based biological functions like wound healing and tissue growth, as well as cancer cells.
Sources:
Sota Endo et al. (2025). Development of label-free cell tracking for discrimination of the heterogeneous mesenchymal migration, PLOS ONE. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0320287
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-scientists-healthy-cancerous-cells.html
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