Deconstructing cell motility in fibrous environment

Speaker: Charlotte GUETTA (Graduate Student, MBI, NUS)
Date: 28 November 2016, Monday
Time: 4pm
Venue: MBI, T-lab, level 5 seminar rooms

Supervisor(s): Prof Michael Sheetz and Prof Benoit Ladoux

Abstract
In vivo, cells migrate on complex 3D fibrous matrices, which has made investigation of the key molecular and physical mechanisms that drive cell migration difficult. Using reductionist approaches to recreate in vitro a simplified fibrous environment, we investigate the molecular and mechanical properties of cell migrating along suspended fibronectin-coated nanofibers, First, we report that single cell migration under such conditions requires the formation and propagation of dynamic actin based fin-like protrusions. These protrusions propagate up to hundred micrometers from the cell body, extending the leading edge and promoting highly persistent directional movement. The waves originate from one major adhesion site at leading end of the cell body, which is linked through actomyosin contractility to another site at the back of the cell, allowing force generation, matrix deformation and cell translocation. Then, we develop a novel system associating nanofibers and micropillars in order to probe the forces generated by cells.

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