title: Cell-cell interactions mediate cytoskeleton organization and collective endothelial cell chemotaxis.
abstract: This study investigates the role of cell-cell and cell-ligand interactions in cytoskeleton organization of endothelial cells (ECs) and their directional migration within a microfluidic device. The migration of ECs in response to a biochemical factor was studied. Mathematical analysis of the cell migration pathways and cellular cytoskeleton revealed that directional migration, migration persistence length, migration speed, and cytoskeletal stress fiber alignment can be mediated by the level of cell contacts as well as the presence or absence of a biochemical polarizing factor. It was shown that in the presence of a biochemical polarizing factor, higher cell density and more frequent cell contacts has a reinforcing effect on collective cell chemotaxis. In contrast, in the absence of a polarizing factor, high cell density can decrease or suppress the ability of the cells to migrate. Also, the correlation of actin stress fiber organization and alignment with directional migration of ECs was investigated. It was shown that in the presence of a biochemical polarizing factor, stress fibers within the cytoskeleton of ECs can be significantly aligned parallel to the gradient direction when the cells have higher level of contacts. The results also show that the organization and alignment of actin stress fibers is mediated by cell adhesion junctions during collective cell migration and introduce cell-cell interactions as a key factor during collective cell chemotaxis.
authors: Center of Excellence in Energy Conversion (CEEC), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Amir
authors: A
authors: Shamloo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000502:physiology*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000502:physiology*; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques
keywords: VE cadherin; cell contacts; collective cell chemotaxis; cytoskeleton organization; microfluidic device