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Updated: Jun 28, 2025
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A Simplified System for Evaluating Cell Mechanosensing and Durotaxis In Vitro
Published on: August 27, 2015
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Positive and negative durotaxis - mechanisms and emerging concepts
Mathilde Mathieu1,2, Aleksi Isomursu1,2, Johanna Ivaska1,2,3,4,5
1Turku Bioscience Centre, University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University, FI-20520 Turku, Finland.
Journal of Cell Science
|April 22, 2024
Summary
Cells can migrate towards stiffer or softer environments, a phenomenon known as durotaxis. This review explores how cell plasticity and context influence this stiffness-guided cell migration.
Area of Science:
- Cell Biology
- Biophysics
- Mechanobiology
Background:
- Cell migration relies on adhesion, cytoskeleton dynamics, and external cues.
- Integrins mediate cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix (ECM), enabling stiffness sensing.
- Durotaxis, migration towards increasing rigidity, is well-established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review conceptual advances in understanding cell plasticity and context-dependency in stiffness-guided migration.
- To discuss the phenomenon of negative durotaxis, where cells migrate towards lower rigidity.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of theoretical models and experimental evidence.
- Discussion of molecular mechanisms of stiffness sensing and cell migration.
Main Results:
- While migration towards increasing rigidity (durotaxis) is common, cells can also migrate towards decreasing rigidity (negative durotaxis).
- Cellular factors, including adhesion molecule balance and motor protein activity, influence migration direction.
- Recent experimental evidence supports the prediction of migration towards intermediate rigidity.
Conclusions:
- Cellular migration in response to matrix rigidity is more complex than previously thought.
- Cell plasticity and context are critical determinants of directional cell migration.
- Understanding durotaxis and negative durotaxis is key to comprehending cell behavior in various biological processes.
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