Abstract
Eukaryotic cells can migrate using different modes, ranging from amoeboid-like, during which actin filled protrusions come and go, to keratocyte-like, characterized by a stable morphology and persistent motion. How cells can switch between these modes is not well understood but waves of signaling events are thought to play an important role in these transitions. Here we present a simple two-component biochemical reaction-diffusion model based on relaxation oscillators and couple this to a model for the mechanics of cell deformations. Different migration modes, including amoeboid-like and keratocyte-like, naturally emerge through transitions determined by interactions between biochemical traveling waves, cell mechanics and morphology. The model predictions are explicitly verified by systematically reducing the protrusive force of the actin network in experiments using Dictyostelium discoideum cells. Our results indicate the importance of coupling signaling events to cell mechanics and morphology and may be applicable in a wide variety of cell motility systems.
Highlights
Eukaryotic cell migration is a fundamental biological process that is essential in development and wound healing and plays a critical role in pathological diseases, including inflammation and cancer metastasis (Ridley et al, 2003; Roussos et al, 2011; Montell, 2003)
To test our model predictions, we carry out experiments using wild-type Dictyostelium cells
We propose a simple but unified paradigm to understand cell migration and cell morphology
Summary
Eukaryotic cell migration is a fundamental biological process that is essential in development and wound healing and plays a critical role in pathological diseases, including inflammation and cancer metastasis (Ridley et al, 2003; Roussos et al, 2011; Montell, 2003). The membrane is pushed outward by a protrusive force resulting in a speed approximately given by vb ~ ah=, where a is the boundary-averaged value of MðAÞ, that depends on mechanical parameters and is independent of biochemical parameters (see Materials and methods and Figure 2—figure supplement 1). This implies that if the speed of the membrane is less that the minimum speed of the activator wave (vb
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