Deposited footprints let cells switch between confined, oscillatory, and exploratory migration.

ABSTRACT: For eukaryotic cells to heal wounds, respond to immune signals, or metastasize, they must migrate, often by adhering to extracellular matrix (ECM). Cells may also deposit ECM components, leaving behind a footprint that influences their crawling. Recent experiments showed that some epithelial cell lines on micropatterned adhesive stripes move persistently in regions they have previously crawled over, where footprints have been formed, but barely advance into unexplored regions, creating an oscillatory migration of increasing amplitude. Here, we explore through mathematical modeling how footprint deposition and cell responses to footprint combine to allow cells to develop oscillation and other complex migratory motions. We simulate cell crawling with a phase field model coupled to a biochemi

SUBMITTER: Perez Ipina E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11145245 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature