Beijing Engineering Research Center for BioNanotechnology and CAS Key Laboratory for Biological Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, National Center for NanoScience and Technology , 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun, Beijing 100190, China.
Ecole Normale Superieure , 24 rue Lhomond, Paris, France.
Biomicrofluidics. 2014 Oct 15;8(5):052010. doi: 10.1063/1.4898209. eCollection 2014 Sep.
Cell polarity plays key roles in tissue development, regeneration, and pathological processes. However, how the cells establish and maintain polarity is still obscure so far. In this study, by employing microfluidic techniques, we explored the influence of geometrical confinement and chemical stimulation on the cell polarity and their interplay. We found that teardrop shape-induced anterior/posterior polarization of cells displayed homogeneous distribution of epidermal growth factor receptor, and the polarity could be maintained in a uniform epidermal growth factor (EGF) solution, but be broken by a reverse gradient of EGF, implying different mechanism of geometrical and chemical cue-induced cell polarity. Further studies indicated that a teardrop pattern could cause polarized distribution of microtubule-organization center and nucleus-Golgi complex, and this polarity was weakened when the cells were released from the confinement. Our study provides the evidence regarding the difference between geometrical and chemical cue-induced cell polarity and would be useful for understanding relationship between polarity and directional migration of cells.
细胞极性在组织发育、再生和病理过程中起着关键作用。然而，迄今为止，细胞如何建立和维持极性仍然不清楚。在这项研究中，我们通过采用微流控技术，探索了几何约束和化学刺激对细胞极性的影响及其相互作用。我们发现，泪滴形状诱导的细胞前后极性表现出表皮生长因子受体的均匀分布，并且在均匀的表皮生长因子（EGF）溶液中可以维持这种极性，但在 EGF 的反向梯度中会被打破，这表明几何和化学线索诱导的细胞极性的机制不同。进一步的研究表明，泪滴图案会导致微管组织中心和核-高尔基复合体的极化分布，当细胞从约束中释放出来时，这种极性会减弱。我们的研究提供了关于几何和化学线索诱导的细胞极性之间差异的证据，这对于理解极性和细胞定向迁移之间的关系将是有用的。
