title: Blebs lead the way: how to migrate without lamellipodia.
abstract: Blebs are spherical membrane protrusions that are produced by contractions of the actomyosin cortex. Blebs are often considered to be a hallmark of apoptosis; however, blebs are also frequently observed during cytokinesis and during migration in three-dimensional cultures and in vivo. For tumour cells and a number of embryonic cells, blebbing migration seems to be a common alternative to the more extensively studied lamellipodium-based motility. We argue that blebs should be promoted to a more prominent place in the world of cellular protrusions.
authors.affiliation: London Centre for Nanotechnology, London, UK. g.charras@ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Charras
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Paluch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011554:Pseudopodia / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins