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Assessment of Dictyostelium discoideum Response to Acute Mechanical Stimulation
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An adhesion-dependent switch between mechanisms that determine motile cell shape.

Erin L Barnhart1, Kun-Chun Lee, Kinneret Keren

  • 1Department of Biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America.

Plos Biology
|May 12, 2011
PubMed
Summary

Substrate adhesion strength dramatically alters keratocyte (a type of cell) morphology and migration. Changes in adhesion influence cell shape, movement patterns, and the organization of internal structures like actin and myosin.

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Area of Science:

  • Cell biology
  • Biophysics
  • Mechanobiology

Background:

  • Keratocyte migration is a highly coordinated process driven by actin polymerization and adhesion dynamics.
  • Cellular morphology and movement are known to be influenced by substrate properties.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how varying substrate adhesion strengths affect keratocyte morphology and migration.
  • To elucidate the underlying mechanisms of adhesion-mediated cell behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Keratocytes were cultured and observed migrating on substrates with controlled, varying adhesion strengths.
  • The organization of cellular adhesions, myosin II, and the actin network was examined under different adhesion conditions.

Main Results:

  • Intermediate adhesion resulted in stereotypical fan-shaped keratocytes with persistent movement.
  • Low adhesion led to small, round cells with erratic movement.
  • High adhesion caused large, asymmetrical cells exhibiting traveling waves of protrusion.

Conclusions:

  • Substrate adhesion strength is a critical determinant of keratocyte shape and migratory behavior.
  • Cellular morphology and migration regimes emerge from the self-organization of actin, adhesions, and myosin.
  • Modulating adhesion strength or myosin contraction can switch keratocytes between distinct migration patterns.