Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Eukaryotic Cell Motility by Improved Force Cytometry

Cell motility plays an essential role in many biological systems, but precise quantitative knowledge of the biophysical processes involved in cell migration is limited. Better measurements are needed to ultimately build models with predictive capabilities. We present an improved force cytometry meth...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2007-08, Vol.104 (33), p.13343-13348
Main Authors: Álamo, Juan C. del, Meili, Ruedi, Alonso-Latorre, Baldomero, Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Javier, Aliseda, Alberto, Firtel, Richard A., Lasheras, Juan C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actins
Animals
Average velocity
Biological Sciences
Cell adhesion
Cell adhesion & migration
Cell lines
Cell motility
Cell Movement
Cytometry
Cytoskeleton
Dictyostelium - cytology
Dictyostelium discoideum
Elastostatics
Eukaryotes
Eukaryotic cells
Flow Cytometry - methods
Genomics
Proteins
Pseudopodia
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Summary:Cell motility plays an essential role in many biological systems, but precise quantitative knowledge of the biophysical processes involved in cell migration is limited. Better measurements are needed to ultimately build models with predictive capabilities. We present an improved force cytometry method and apply it to the analysis of the dynamics of the chemotactic migration of the amoeboid form of Dictyostelium discoideum. Our explicit calculation of the force field takes into account the finite thickness of the elastic substrate and improves the accuracy and resolution compared with previous methods. This approach enables us to quantitatively study the differences in the mechanics of the migration of wild-type (WT) and mutant cell lines. The time evolution of the strain energy exerted by the migrating cells on their substrate is quasi-periodic and can be used as a simple indicator of the stages of the cell motility cycle. We have found that the mean velocity of migration v and the period of the strain energy T cycle are related through a hyperbolic law v = LIT, where L is a constant step length that remains unchanged in mutants with adhesion or contraction defects. Furthermore, when cells adhere to the substrate, they exert opposing pole forces that are orders of magnitude higher than required to overcome the resistance from their environment.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0705815104