Cell-Projection Pumping of Fibroblast Contents into Osteosarcoma SAOS-2 Cells Correlates with Increased SAOS-2 Proliferation and Migration, and also with Altered Morphology

We earlier reported that cell-projection pumping transfers fibroblast contents to cancer cells, and this alters cancer cell phenotype. We now report on single-cell tracking of time lapse recordings from co-cultured fluorescent fibroblasts and SAOS-2 osteosarcoma cells, tracking 5,201 cells across 7 experiments. The fluorescent lipophilic marker DiD was used to label fibroblast organelles, and to trace transfer of fibroblast cytoplasm into SAOS-2. We related SAOS-2 phenotypic change to levels of fluorescence transfer from fibroblasts to SAOS-2, and also to what we term ‘compensated fluorescence’, that numerically projects mother cell fluorescence post-mitosis, into daughter cells. Comparison of absolute with compensated fluorescence, allowed deduction if phenotypic effects in mother SAOS-2, were inherited by their daughters. SAOS-2 receipt of fibroblast fluorescence correlated by Kendall’s tau: with cell-profile area, and without evidence for persistence in daughter cells (median tau = 0.51, p < 0. 016); negatively and weakly with cell circularity, and with evidence for persistence (median tau = −0.19, p < 0.05); and very weakly with cell migration velocity, and without evidence for persistence (median tau = 0.01, p < 0.016). Also, mitotic SAOS-2 had higher rates of prior fluorescence uptake (median = 64.9 units/day), compared with non dividing cells (median = 35.6 units/day, p < 0.016), and there was no evidence for persistence post-mitosis. We conclude there is appreciable impact of cell-projection pumping on cancer cell phenotype, relevant to cancer histopathological diagnosis, clinical spread, and growth, with most effects ‘reset’ by cancer cell mitosis.