Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Department of Kinesiology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA.
Cell Rep. 2019 Feb 5;26(6):1489-1500.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.01.039.
Neural crest (NC) cells undergo extensive migrations during development. Here, we couple in vivo live imaging at high resolution with custom software tools to reveal dynamic migratory behavior in chick embryos. Trunk NC cells migrate as individuals with both stochastic and biased features as they move dorsoventrally to form peripheral ganglia. Their leading edge displays a prominent fan-shaped lamellipodium that reorients upon cell-cell contact. Computational analysis reveals that when the lamellipodium of one cell touches the body of another, the two cells undergo "contact attraction," often moving together and then separating via a pulling force exerted by lamellipodium. Targeted optical manipulation shows that cell interactions coupled with cell density generate a long-range biased random walk behavior, such that cells move from high to low density. In contrast to chain migration noted at other axial levels, the results show that individual trunk NC cells navigate the complex environment without tight coordination between neighbors.
神经嵴（NC）细胞在发育过程中会经历广泛的迁移。在这里，我们将高分辨率的体内实时成像与自定义软件工具相结合，以揭示鸡胚中动态的迁移行为。躯干 NC 细胞作为个体进行迁移，具有随机和偏向特征，它们沿背腹方向移动以形成周围神经节。它们的前缘显示出一个突出的扇形片状伪足，在与细胞接触时重新定向。计算分析表明，当一个细胞的片状伪足接触到另一个细胞的身体时，两个细胞会发生“接触吸引”，通常一起移动，然后通过片状伪足施加的拉力分离。靶向光学操作表明，细胞相互作用与细胞密度相结合会产生长程偏向随机游走行为，从而使细胞从高密度移动到低密度。与在其他轴向水平上观察到的链迁移相反，结果表明，个体躯干 NC 细胞在没有邻居之间紧密协调的情况下在复杂环境中导航。
