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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Quantitative Analysis of Random Migration of Cells Using Time-lapse Video Microscopy
Published on: May 13, 2012
Real-time analysis of clathrin-mediated endocytosis during cell migration
Joshua Z Rappoport1, Sanford M Simon
1The Laboratory of Cellular Biophysics, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, Box 304, New York, NY 10021, USA.
Abstract:
Simultaneous dual-color total-internal-reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIR-FM) was performed to analyze the internalization and distribution of markers for clathrin-mediated endocytosis (clathrin, dynamin1, dynamin2 and transferrin) in migrating cells. In MDCK cells, which endogenously express dynamin2, the dynamin2-EGFP fluorescence demonstrated identical spatial and temporal behavior as clathrin both prior to and during internalization. By contrast, in the same cells, the neuronal dynamin1 only localized with clathrin just prior to endocytosis. In migrating cells, each endocytic marker was polarized towards the leading edge, away from the lagging edge. These observations suggest a re-evaluation of the functional differences between dynamin1 and dynamin2, and of the role of clathrin-mediated endocytosis in cell migration.
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