Pressure drives rapid burst-like collective migration from 3D cancer aggregates

Collective migration of cells is a key behaviour observed during morphogenesis, wound healing and cancer cell invasion. Hence, understanding the different aspects of collective migration is at the core of further progress in describing and treating cancer and other pathological defects. The standard dogma in cell migration is that cells exert forces on the environment to move and cell-cell adhesion-based forces provide the coordination for collective migration. Here, we report a new collective migration mechanism that is independent of pulling forces on the extra-cellular matrix (ECM), as it is driven by the pressure difference generated inside model tumours. We observe a striking collective migration phenotype, where a rapid burst-like stream of HeLa cervical cancer cells emerges from the 3D aggregate embedded in matrices with low collagen concentration (0.5 mg ml − 1 ). This invasion-like behaviour is recorded within 8 hours post embedding (hpe), and is characterised by high cell velocity and super-diffusive collective motion. We show that cellular swelling, triggered by the soft matrix, leads to a rise in intrinsic pressure, which eventually drives an invasion-like phenotype of HeLa cancer aggregates. These dynamic observations provide new evidence that pressure-driven effects need to be considered for a complete description of the mechanical forces involved in collective migration and invasion.