fibroblasts keep melanoma safe from harm

摘要

The history of intravital microscopy isrooted in the study of cellular interactionsin specific tissue environments. Imagingcells on glass coverslips is useful for mapping out basic features of signal transduction pathways, such as the regulation ofthe actin cytoskeleton by Rho-familyGTPases. But the answers to many biological questions lie in the fine spatial andtemporal details of signal transduction:“where” and “when” questions which canonly be investigated in situ. This appliesto diverse processes from T-cell / B-cellinteractions within lymph nodes, to cancer-stromal cell interactions withintumors, to virtually all of embryonicdevelopment. More recently, intravitalmicroscopy has found an important roleto play in drug discovery, answering questions of where, when, and for how longdrugs hit their targets at the tissue, cellular, and sub-cellular levels. This trend hasbeen accelerated by the development ofFRET biosensors which allow signal transduction to be imaged with high spatialand temporal resolution in pre-clinicalcancer models.1