Spatio-temporal analysis of eukaryotic cell motility by improved force cytometry.

ABSTRACT: Cell motility plays an essential role in many biological systems, but precise quantitative knowledge of the biophysical processes involved in cell migration is limited. Better measurements are needed to ultimately build models with predictive capabilities. We present an improved force cytometry method and apply it to the analysis of the dynamics of the chemotactic migration of the amoeboid form of Dictyostelium discoideum. Our explicit calculation of the force field takes into account the finite thickness of the elastic substrate and improves the accuracy and resolution compared with previous methods. This approach enables us to quantitatively study the differences in the mechanics of the migration of wild-type (WT) and mutant cell lines. The time evolution of the strain energy exerted by

SUBMITTER: Del Alamo JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1940228 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature