Researcher of the Month

March 2026

Exploring the Hidden World of Cell Behavior – An Interview with Guillaume Jacquemet

K. Albin Johansson Research Professor and cell biologist Guillaume Jacquemet dedicates his research to uncovering how cancer cells move, survive, and spread within the body. His work blends cutting edge microscopy, computational methods, and deep biological insight. In this article, he shares his background, research focus, and the latest findings from his laboratory.

From Reims to Manchester to Turku – A Global Path Into Cell Biology

Guillaume Jacquemet trained as a cell biologist in Reims, France, before completing his PhD at the University of Manchester in the UK. During his doctoral studies, he investigated how cells attach to their surroundings, using advanced microscopy and protein level analyses. Guillaume's postdoctoral work brought him to Turku, Finland, where he joined Johanna Ivaska’s laboratory. There, he explored how cancer cells use tiny, antenna like protrusions called filopodia to spread. At the same time, he began learning computer programming to improve the analysis of the increasingly complex microscopy data his research required - skills that have since become central to his scientific work.

How Do Cancer Cells Survive the Turmoil of the Bloodstream?

At the heart of Guillaume’s research lies one of cancer biology’s most pressing questions: How cancer cells manage to escape the primary tumor, travel through the bloodstream, and successfully colonize in distant organs? To answer this, his team uses extensive live cell video microscopy to observe cancer cells in action. The massive volume of video data has led the group to develop custom analysis software, often powered by artificial intelligence.

Guillaume was drawn to this topic because the way cancer cells survive in the bloodstream and the mechanisms they use to cross the blood vessel wall, remains surprisingly poorly understood. Yet this early stage of metastasis may be one of the most promising for therapeutic intervention, as circulating cancer cells are especially vulnerable.

Research Progress and a New Center of Excellence

According to Guillaume, his team has recently uncovered new and intriguing insights into how pancreatic cancer cells attach to and cross blood vessel walls. These discoveries will soon be shared with both the scientific community and the public.

In collaboration with colleagues in Turku and Helsinki, Guillaume has also launched a new Research Council of Finland funded Center of Excellence, named Immune–Endothelial Interfaces (IMMENs). The center focuses on understanding how the lymphatic system regulates immune responses in different diseases, including cancer.

FlowVision – Revealing the First Moments of Cancer Cell Arrest

One of the Guillaume’s group’s most recent publications Fast label-free live imaging with FlowVision reveals key principles of cancer cell arrest on endothelial monolayers introduces an innovative platform called FlowVision. This new tool allows researchers to visualize, in real time, how cancer cells manage to stop and attach to blood vessel walls despite the force of flowing blood. The study uncovered several important findings:

• Pancreatic cancer cells are surprisingly sticky. They can adhere to blood vessel walls as effectively as immune cells.

• They fight the current. A cell’s ability to remain in place depends on both its adhesive structures and the strength of the surrounding blood flowing over them.

• Cancer cells seek “attachment hotspots.” They preferentially anchor to specific spots on the vessel wall, using the protein CD44 and the sugar molecule hyaluronic acid to form a tight, sandwich like grip.

Understanding this gripping mechanism opens new therapeutic possibilities. If drugs can be developed to disrupt this CD44–hyaluronic acid “sandwich,” it may be possible to prevent cancer cells from attaching and spreading to new organs.

Life Beyond the Microscope

Outside the lab, Guillaume devotes most of his time to his family. He is the father of a 10 year old son and a 4 year old daughter, who keep his free hours filled with energy, joy, and balance.