Abstract
Many normal and pathological biological processes involve the migration of epithelial cell sheets. This arises from complex emergent behaviour resulting from the interplay between cellular signalling networks and the forces that physically couple the cells. Here, we demonstrate that collective migration of an epithelium can be interactively guided by applying electric fields that bias the underlying signalling networks. We show that complex, spatiotemporal cues are locally interpreted by the epithelium, resulting in rapid, coordinated responses such as a collective U-turn, divergent migration, and unchecked migration against an obstacle. We observed that the degree of external control depends on the size and shape of the cell population, and on the existence of physical coupling between cells. Together, our results offer design and engineering principles for the rational manipulation of the collective behaviour and material properties of a tissue.
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Change history
21 March 2014
In the version of this Article originally published, in Figs 4a,e, 5b,c and 6a, the units for velocity should have read 'μm h–1'. This error has now been corrected in the online versions of the Article.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the following for reagents and advice: N. Borghi (Institut Jacques Monod, Paris); K. Matlin (Univ. Chicago); D.J. Seo (UC Berkeley); M. Lowndes (Stanford University); C. Tropini (Stanford University); W. Marshall (UCSF); S. Prabhu (UCLA) and J. Bone (UC Berkeley). This work was supported by a Graduate Fellowship from the NSF to D.J.C., HFSP (RGP0040/2012) to W.J.N., and EFRI-1240380 to M.M.M.
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D.J.C. designed and built the device, designed and performed experiments, and analysed and interpreted data. W.J.N. interpreted biological data. M.M.M. contributed to the design of the device. All authors participated in writing the paper.
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Cohen, D., James Nelson, W. & Maharbiz, M. Galvanotactic control of collective cell migration in epithelial monolayers. Nature Mater 13, 409–417 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3891
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3891
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