E-cadherin mediated lateral interactions between neighbor cells necessary for collective migration

JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS

卷:71

Article

Suffoletto, Kevin¹  Jetta, Deekshitha¹  Hua, Susan Z.^1,2 

[1] SUNY Buffalo, Dept Mech & Aerosp Engn, Buffalo, NY 14260 USA

[2] SUNY Buffalo, Dept Physiol & Biophys, Buffalo, NY 14260 USA

关键词: Shear stress;    Intercellular adhesion;    adherens junction (AJ);    Cytoskeletal forces;    Microfluidic channel;    Cell-cell contact;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jbiomech.2018.02.002

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Collective cell movement is critical in pathological processes such as wound healing and cancer invasion. It entails complex interactions between adjacent cells and between cells-extracellular matrices. Most studies measure the migration patterns and force propagation by placing cells on flat, patterned substrates. The cooperative behavior resulting from cell-cell interactions is not well understood. We have developed a multi-channel microfluidic device that has junctional protein E-cadherin coated onto the sidewalls of the channels that enables the cells' lateral interactions with their neighbors to be studied. Our study reveals that epithelial cells rely on lateral E-cadherin-based adhesions to maintain the cohesion of the group. Cells move faster in narrower channels, but the average velocity along the channels is reduced in E-cadherin coated channels versus non-adhesive channels. We have directly measured the forces in the cross-linking protein, alpha-actinin, using FRET sensors during cell migration, and found that higher tension exists at the cell edges adjacent to the walls coated with E-cadherin, the implication being E-cadherin transmits the shear forces but does not provide a driving force for this migration. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free