Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, WC1E 6BT, London, UK.
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, WC1E 6BT, London, UK.
Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2019 Sep;93:55-68. doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2018.05.027. Epub 2018 Jun 1.
Cell migration is essential for a wide range of biological processes such as embryo morphogenesis, wound healing, regeneration, and also in pathological conditions, such as cancer. In such contexts, cells are required to migrate as individual entities or as highly coordinated collectives, both of which requiring cells to respond to molecular and mechanical cues from their environment. However, whilst the function of chemical cues in cell migration is comparatively well understood, the role of tissue mechanics on cell migration is just starting to be studied. Recent studies suggest that the dynamic tuning of the viscoelasticity within a migratory cluster of cells, and the adequate elastic properties of its surrounding tissues, are essential to allow efficient collective cell migration in vivo. In this review we focus on the role of viscoelasticity in the control of collective cell migration in various cellular systems, mentioning briefly some aspects of single cell migration. We aim to provide details on how viscoelasticity of collectively migrating groups of cells and their surroundings is adjusted to ensure correct morphogenesis, wound healing, and metastasis. Finally, we attempt to show that environmental viscoelasticity triggers molecular changes within migrating clusters and that these new molecular setups modify clusters' viscoelasticity, ultimately allowing them to migrate across the challenging geometries of their microenvironment.
细胞迁移对于广泛的生物学过程至关重要，例如胚胎形态发生、伤口愈合、再生，以及在病理条件下，如癌症。在这些情况下，细胞需要作为个体实体或高度协调的群体迁移，这两者都要求细胞对来自环境的分子和机械线索做出反应。然而，虽然化学线索在细胞迁移中的功能已经得到了较好的理解，但组织力学在细胞迁移中的作用才刚刚开始被研究。最近的研究表明，在迁移细胞簇中动态调整粘弹性，以及其周围组织具有适当的弹性特性，对于在体内实现有效的集体细胞迁移是至关重要的。在这篇综述中，我们重点关注粘弹性在各种细胞系统中控制集体细胞迁移的作用，简要提及了单细胞迁移的一些方面。我们旨在提供有关如何调整集体迁移细胞群及其周围环境的粘弹性以确保正确的形态发生、伤口愈合和转移的详细信息。最后，我们试图表明，环境粘弹性会引发迁移簇内的分子变化，而这些新的分子设置会改变簇的粘弹性，最终使它们能够在微环境具有挑战性的几何形状中迁移。
