Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies

Title of Lecture:

Different mechanisms of cell migration on elastic surfaces and soft tissue

Abstract:

First, I will briefly discuss fundamental differences between the physical concepts of the globally coordinated and directed migration of cells on resilient tissue surfaces and in soft tissue, formed by glial cells in the brain. Solitary actin gelation pulses and myosin motors drive cell locomotion on resilient surfaces, while microtubules and associate motors guide the global polarization of the cell.

Protrusions forces generated by solitary actin gelation pulses are emitted from adhesion domains. They act as biochemical reaction and force transmission centers, and drive the motion on surfaces. In the second part, I will describe the formation of functional membrane domains as a paradigm of the logistically controlled self-assembly processes in cells. Each protrusion step is followed by retraction of the cell end, and is manifested in periodic variations of the contact area.