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Related Concept Videos

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Cell migration is a process by which the cells move from one location to another, playing an essential role in embryological development, repair and regeneration, immune response, and metastasis. Cells migrate in response to chemical or mechanical signals generated by specific organs or tissues. The overall mechanism includes three steps - polarization, protrusion, and release. Polarization involves the formation of a distinct cell front and rear, which determines the direction of movement.
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A migrating cell changes its shape during the cyclic events of attachment and detachment from the substratum and repositions the cell organelles correspondingly. These complex events are orchestrated by the dynamic cytoskeletal network comprising actin filaments, intermediate filaments, and microtubules. Cytoskeletal crosstalk — the direct and indirect communication between the different components — is crucial for this coordination. Direct communication involves various linker...
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Cell polarity is the asymmetric distribution of cellular and membrane components, making one side of the cell different from the other. This polarity is essential to many processes such as embryogenesis, axon migration, glucose transport across epithelial cells, and directional cell migration. A migrating cell responds to intracellular or extracellular signals via molecular cascades that reorganize the actin cytoskeleton to establish this polarity. In these cells, the Rho family proteins Cdc42,...
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Creating Adhesive and Soluble Gradients for Imaging Cell Migration with Fluorescence Microscopy
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Competing elastic and viscous gradients determine directional cell migration.

Pablo Saez1, Pallavi U Shirke2, Jyoti R Seth2

  • 1LaCàN, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech, 08034 Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Mathematics of UPC-BarcelonaTech.-IMTech, Barcelona, Spain.

Mathematical Biosciences
|December 19, 2024
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Summary

Cells migrate using mechanical cues like stiffness (durotaxis) and relaxation properties (viscotaxis). This study reveals viscotaxis mechanisms and how it competes with durotaxis, finding durotaxis more efficient but influenced by opposing relaxation gradients.

Keywords:
Active gel modelsCell adhesionClutch modelDurotaxisMechanotransductionViscotaxis

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Area of Science:

  • Cell biology
  • Biophysics
  • Mechanobiology

Background:

  • Cell migration is crucial for development, regeneration, and disease.
  • Cells navigate using external cues, including mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix.
  • Durotaxis (response to stiffness gradients) is known, but viscotaxis (response to relaxation property gradients) is less understood, and their interaction is unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the mechanisms governing viscotaxis.
  • To investigate the interaction between durotaxis and viscotaxis.
  • To model the interplay of elastic and relaxation gradients in cell migration.

Main Methods:

  • Integration of clutch models for cell adhesions.
  • Application of active gel theory for cell migration.
  • Development of a mathematical model to analyze viscotaxis and durotaxis competition.

Main Results:

  • Viscotaxis is mediated by asymmetric cell adhesions polarizing intracellular forces, similar to durotaxis.
  • Durotaxis is more efficient in directing cell migration when both elastic and relaxation gradients are present.
  • Opposing relaxation gradients can inhibit or redirect migration influenced by elastic gradients.

Conclusions:

  • This study provides the first mathematical model explaining viscotaxis mechanisms.
  • It reveals how viscotaxis and durotaxis interact and compete.
  • The findings highlight the complex role of extracellular matrix viscoelasticity in directed cell movement.