title: Quantification of human neutrophil motility in three-dimensional collagen gels. Effect of collagen concentration.
abstract: Leukocytes must migrate through tissues to fulfill their role in the immune response, but direct methods for observing and quantifying cell motility have mostly been limited to migration on two-dimensional surfaces. We have now developed methods for examining neutrophil movement in a three-dimensional gel containing 0.1 to 0.7 mg/ml rat tail tendon collagen. Neutrophil-populated collagen gels were formed within flat glass capillary tubes, permitting direct observation with light microscopy. By following the tracks of individual cells over a 13.5-min observation period and comparing them to a stochastic model of cell movement, we quantified cell speed within a given gel by estimating a random motility coefficient (mu) and persistence time (P). The random motility coefficient changed significantly with collagen concentration in the gel, varying from 1.6 to 13.3 x 10(-9) cm2/s, with the maximum occurring at a collagen gel concentration of 0.3 mg/ml. The methods described may be useful for studying tissue dynamics and for evaluating the mechanism of cell movement in three-dimensional gels of extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Parkhurst
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Saltzman
mesh_terms: D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D003094:Collagen; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000737:chemistry; D005782:Gels; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008954:Models, Biological; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D003094:Collagen