From single cells to organotypic cultures: Measuring and analyzing keratinocyte migration

Keratinocyte migration is an integral part of epidermal development and homeostasis. Because of its complexity, no single experimental approach is sufficient to capture all aspects of cell migration. This review covers a range of strategies for studying keratinocyte migration in culture-based systems at different levels of complexity. First, single-cell migration experiments focus on the fundamental processes of cell locomotion. Second, monolayer migration experiments incorporate the influence of cell-cell adhesion and provide a simplified model of collective motion. Finally, epidermal organotypic culture migration experiments model collective migration in a 3-dimensional context closely mimicking the stratified squamous epidermal architecture, providing a bridge between tissue culture-based approaches and animal models. Key design principles of each model are discussed, and quantitative analysis methods for the rich datasets captured by these experiments are reviewed in detail.