Cortical contractility triggers a stochastic switch to fast amoeboid cell motility.

Abstract

3D amoeboid cell migration is central to many developmental and disease-related processes such as cancer metastasis. Here, we identify a unique prototypic amoeboid cell migration mode in early zebrafish embryos, termed stable-bleb migration. Stable-bleb cells display an invariant polarized balloon-like shape with exceptional migration speed and persistence. Progenitor cells can be reversibly transformed into stable-bleb cells irrespective of their primary fate and motile characteristics by increasing myosin II activity through biochemical or mechanical stimuli. Using a combination of theory and experiments, we show that, in stable-bleb cells, cortical contractility fluctuations trigger a stochastic switch into amoeboid motility, and a positive feedback between cortical flows and gradients in contractility maintains stable-bleb cell polarization. We further show that rearward cortical flows drive stable-bleb cell migration in various adhesive and non-adhesive environments, unraveling a highly versatile amoeboid migration phenotype.

• Authors: Verena Ruprecht, Stefan Wieser, Andrew Callan-Jones, Michael Smutny, Hitoshi Morita, Keisuke Sako, Vanessa Barone, Monika Ritsch-Marte, Michael Sixt, Raphaël Voituriez, Carl-Philipp Heisenberg
• Journal: Cell (Cell) Vol. 160 Issue 4 Pg. 673-685 (Feb 12 2015) ISSN: 1097-4172 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 25679761 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Topics

• Animals
• Cell Adhesion
• Cell Movement
• Cell Polarity
• Embryo, Nonmammalian (cytology)
• Gastrula (cytology)
• Stem Cells (cytology)
• Zebrafish (embryology)