title: Collective cell migration guided by dynamically maintained gradients.
abstract: How cell collectives move and deposit subunits within a developing embryo is a question of outstanding interest. In many cases, a chemotactic mechanism is employed, where cells move up or down a previously generated attractive or repulsive gradient of signalling molecules. Recent studies revealed the existence of systems with isotropic chemoattractant expression in the lateral line primordium of zebrafish. Here we propose a mechanism for a cell collective, which actively modulates an isotropically expressed ligand and encodes an initial symmetry breaking in its velocity. We derive a closed solution for the velocity and identify an optimal length that maximizes the tissues' velocity. A length dependent polar gradient is identified, its use for pro-neuromast deposition is shown by simulations and a critical time for cell deposition is derived. Experiments to verify this model are suggested.
authors.affiliation: European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany. streicha@embl.de
authors.forename: Sebastian J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Streichan
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valentin
authors.forename: Darren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gilmour
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hufnagel
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D002630:Chemotactic Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002633:Chemotaxis; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008954:Models, Biological; D038081:Organogenesis; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002630:Chemotactic Factors; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins