Collective migration exhibits greater sensitivity but slower dynamics of alignment to applied electric fields.

ABSTRACT: During development and disease, cells migrate collectively in response to gradients in physical, chemical and electrical cues. Despite its physiological significance and potential therapeutic applications, electrotactic collective cell movement is relatively less well understood. Here, we analyze the combined effect of intercellular interactions and electric fields on the directional migration of non-transformed mammary epithelial cells, MCF-10A. Our data show that clustered cells exhibit greater sensitivity to applied electric fields but align more slowly than isolated cells. Clustered cells achieve half-maximal directedness with an electric field that is 50% weaker than that required by isolated cells; however, clustered cells take ∼2-4 fold longer to align. This trade-off in greater sen

SUBMITTER: Lalli ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4675494 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature