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Updated: Aug 16, 2025
10:53
Traction Microscopy Integrated with Microfluidics for Chemotactic Collective Migration
Published on: October 13, 2019
7.1K
Mechanochemical subcellular-element model of crawling cells.
Mitsusuke Tarama1, Kenji Mori2, Ryoichi Yamamoto2
1Department of Physics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
|December 22, 2022
Summary
This study presents a mechanochemical model explaining how single cells migrate. It reveals that intracellular chemical signals control cell-substrate adhesion, guiding directional movement and crawling distance via a single chemical wave.
Area of Science:
- Cellular mechanics
- Biophysics
- Systems biology
Background:
- Cellular migration is crucial for development and disease, yet the physical mechanisms are complex.
- Single-cell locomotion involves coordinated shape changes, adhesion dynamics, and intracellular forces.
- Understanding autonomous cell migration requires linking intracellular processes to directional motion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a basic mechanochemical model of cell crawling.
- To investigate how intracellular biochemical signals influence cell protrusion, contraction, and adhesion dynamics.
- To elucidate the conversion of intracellular force to directional cell migration under force-free conditions.
Main Methods:
- Developed a mechanochemical model based on subcellular elements.
- Incorporated reaction-diffusion equations to simulate traveling chemical concentration waves.
- Analyzed the dependence of adhesion dynamics on intracellular biochemical signals.
- Performed multipole analysis of traction force for comparison with experimental data.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated that chemical dependence of cell-substrate adhesion dynamics dictates crawling direction and distance.
- Showed that a single chemical wave can guide cell migration.
- Validated model predictions through comparison with experimental traction force measurements.
Conclusions:
- Intracellular chemical reactions are effectively converted into directional cell migration.
- The developed model provides a foundational understanding of cell crawling mechanisms.
- This mechanochemical model serves as a prototype for more complex, realistic cell migration models.
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