Emergence of collective propulsion through cell-cell adhesion

Abstract

The mechanisms driving the collective movement of cells remain poorly understood. To contribute toward resolving this mystery, a model was formulated to theoretically explore the possible functions of polarized cell-cell adhesion in collective cell migration. The model consists of an amoeba cell with polarized cell-cell adhesion, which is controlled by positive feedback with cell motion. This model cell has no persistent propulsion, and therefore exhibits a simple random walk when in isolation. However, at high density, these cells acquire collective propulsion and form ordered movement. This result suggests that cell-cell adhesion has a potential function, which induces collective propulsion with persistence.

5 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (2)

• Active Particles in Complex and Crowded Environments
• Phase transition in the collective migration of tissue cells: experiment and model

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Collective Cell Movement in Cell-Scale Tension Gradient on Tissue Interface
• Cell Motion Alignment as Polarity Memory Effect
• Motion Ordering in Cellular Polar-polar and Polar-nonpolar Interactions