Chapter four - Fine-tuning viscoelasticity: the key to collectively move in vivo

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Cell migration can be defined as the spatial translocation of a cell in time and it has been shown to be essential all along the life of unicellular and multicellular livings. In order to efficiently move toward their target tissues, individually or collectively migrating cells require to respond and integrate molecular and mechanical signals from their environment. Comparatively, the function of chemical cues in cell migration is well understood, while the role of tissue mechanics on cell migration is just starting to be elucidated and is currently under intense research. Recent data suggest that the elastic properties of the environment, as well as the dynamic tuning of the viscoelasticity within a migratory cluster of cells, are essential for efficient collective cell migration (CCM) in vivo. In this chapter we discuss why viscoelasticity is a parameter to be accounted when studying cell migration. Our aim is to provide evidence on how tuning the viscoelastic properties of migratory cells and those contained in their environments can ensure correct embryogenesis, wound healing, and metastasis. For this we provide background on viscoelasticity and useful definitions for both, biologists and physicists. Then we discuss the mechanisms by which cells internalize mechanical inputs and we attempt to correlate environmental viscoelasticity with cellular and molecular responses of collectively migrating clusters. Finally, we link these new cellular and molecular signatures to modifications of the cluster’s viscoelasticity—as part of a feedback loop that allows cell collectives to adapt to the challenging geometries of their microenvironment in order to efficiently migrate. Along this chapter we do provide evidence from both, single and collectively migrating cells but we mostly focus on CCM.