| First Author | Vedel S | Year | 2013 |
| Journal | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A | Volume | 110 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 129-34 |
| PubMed ID | 23251032 | Mgi Jnum | J:192620 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5465500 | Doi | 10.1073/pnas.1204291110 |
| Citation | Vedel S, et al. (2013) Migration of cells in a social context. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110(1):129-34 |
| abstractText | In multicellular organisms and complex ecosystems, cells migrate in a social context. Whereas this is essential for the basic processes of life, the influence of neighboring cells on the individual remains poorly understood. Previous work on isolated cells has observed a stereotypical migratory behavior characterized by short-time directional persistence with long-time random movement. We discovered a much richer dynamic in the social context, with significant variations in directionality, displacement, and speed, which are all modulated by local cell density. We developed a mathematical model based on the experimentally identified "cellular traffic rules" and basic physics that revealed that these emergent behaviors are caused by the interplay of single-cell properties and intercellular interactions, the latter being dominated by a pseudopod formation bias mediated by secreted chemicals and pseudopod collapse following collisions. The model demonstrates how aspects of complex biology can be explained by simple rules of physics and constitutes a rapid test bed for future studies of collective migration of individual cells. |
