Directional-to-random transition of cell cluster migration

作     者：曾阳 车丙晨 孙聃 张策 经光银 Yang Zeng;Bingchen Che;Dan Sun;Ce Zhang;Guangyin Jing

作者机构：State Key Laboratory of Photon-Technology in Western China EnergyInstitute of Photonics and Photon-TechnologyNorthwest UniversityXi’an 710127China School of PhysicsNorthwest UniversityXi’an 710127China 

出 版 物：《Chinese Physics B》 (中国物理B（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2023年第32卷第11期

页      面：168-172页

核心收录：

学科分类：0710[理学-生物学] 02[经济学] 0202[经济学-应用经济学] 020208[经济学-统计学] 07[理学] 071009[理学-细胞生物学] 09[农学] 0714[理学-统计学（可授理学、经济学学位）] 0901[农学-作物学] 070103[理学-概率论与数理统计] 090102[农学-作物遗传育种] 0701[理学-数学] 

基　　金：Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51927804 and 12174306) the Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province of China (Grant No. 2023-JC-JQ-02) 

主　　题：cell migration random walk active wetting cell cluster 

摘      要：Efficient cell migration is crucial for the functioning of biological processes, e.g., morphogenesis, wound healing, and cancer metastasis. In this study, we monitor the migratory behavior of the 3D fibroblast clusters using live cell microscopy,and find that crowded environment affects cell migration, i.e., crowding leads to directional migration at the cluster’s periphery. The number of cell layers being stacked during seeding determines the directional-to-random transition. Intriguingly,the migratory behavior of cell clusters resembles the dispersion dynamics of clouds of passive particles, indicating that the biological process is driven by physical effects(e.g., entropy) rather than cell communication. Our findings highlight the role of intrinsic physical characteristics, such as crowding, in regulating biological behavior, and suggest new therapeutic approaches targeting at cancer metastasis.