Complement Fragment C3a Controls Mutual Cell Attraction during Collective Cell Migration

Complement Fragment C3a Controls Mutual Cell Attraction during Collective Cell Migration

Collective cell migration is a mode of movement crucial for morphogenesis and cancer metastasis. However, little is known about how migratory cells coordinate collectively. Here we show that mutual cell-cell attraction (named here coattraction) is required to maintain cohesive clusters of migrating mesenchymal cells. Coattraction can counterbalance the natural tendency of cells to disperse via ...

Connexin43 controls N-cadherin transcription during collective cell migration

Cell-cell communication during collective migration.

Cell motility plays a critical role in many biological and medical processes, including wound healing, morphogenesis, and cancer metastasis (1). Often, this movement is guided by external chemical cues in the form of chemoattractant gradients. These cues consist of diffusive chemoattractant molecules that bind to surface receptors on the cell membrane and activate intracellular signaling pathwa...

Physical forces during collective cell migration

Fundamental biological processes including morphogenesis, tissue repair and tumour metastasis require collective cell motions1–3, and to drive these motions cells exert traction forces on their surroundings4. Current understanding emphasizes that these traction forces arise mainly in ‘leader cells’ at the front edge of the advancing cell sheet5–9. Our data are contrary to that assumption and sh...

Collective guidance of collective cell migration.

Some cells migrate and find their way as solitary entities. However, during development of multicellular animals and possibly during tumor dissemination, cells often move as groups, associated tightly or loosely. Recent advances in live imaging have aided examination of such 'multicellular cell biology'. Here, I propose a model for how a group of cells can process and react to guidance informat...