Cell biologyLesson 3 of 3 in the course Cytoskeleton and cell motility

Cell Migration: Motility, Polarity, and Immune Dysfunction

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Cell migration is the movement of cells from one place to another, either individually or in groups. It is essential for building and maintaining tissues, healing wounds, and coordinating immune responses. This lesson introduces how migration is studied and how cytoskeletal activity and membrane recycling can help a cell move.

Cells move during embryonic development as tissues form, during wound healing as cells reach damaged areas, and during immune responses as cells travel toward sites of infection or injury. Cells can respond to external cues, including chemical signals and mechanical signals. Migration must be regulated: errors can contribute to developmental disorders, vascular disease, tumor formation, and metastasis.

All flashcards

Why must cells actively generate force to move at cellular scales?
The low-Reynolds-number environment is highly viscous, so cells cannot coast effectively.
How can microtubules affect rear retraction and migration direction?
They can resist contractile forces at the rear, while their remodeling helps rear retraction and their organization can support directionality.
How can rearward membrane flow contribute to amoeboid migration?
It may exert tangential forces on surrounding fluid that help propel a cell forward.
How can vesicle trafficking support rearward surface flow?
Vesicles can carry membrane from the rear to the front, helping maintain cell size as surface membrane flows backward.
How can 4-hydroxynonenal affect immune-cell movement?
It can modify actin and coronin-1A, impairing actin remodeling and potentially disrupting immune-cell migration and phagocytosis.

Quiz questions

  1. In cell motility research, what is an inverse problem?Answer: Inferring hidden mechanisms from observed cell shape and movement.
  2. Amoeboid cells move toward a chemoattractant while suspended in an isodense medium. What does this support?Answer: They can move without stable adhesion to a substrate.
  3. In mesenchymal migration, where is the nucleus typically positioned relative to the microtubule-organizing center (MTOC)?Answer: Behind the MTOC.
  4. How can 4-hydroxynonenal modification of actin and coronin-1A affect immune cells?Answer: It can hinder actin remodeling and impair migration and phagocytosis.
  5. In models of collective migration, what can stress on older focal adhesions promote?Answer: Their detachment as cells renew their attachments.

Based on the Wikipedia article Cell migration, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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