Movies of Migrating Cells
Collective migration of an epithelial cell sheet during wound closure (left) and single-cell chemotactic migration of a neutrophil chasing a bacterium (Right). Comparison of a migrating Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cell sheet to a neutrophil (polymorphonuclear leukocyte) in pursuit of a Staphylococcus aureus bacterium illustrates some of the similarities and differences between the migration of a cell collective and the chemotaxis of an individual cell. Note: these two image sequences are of different time intervals and magnifications. On average, a neutrophil stimulated with chemoattractant moves about 20 times faster than a migrating epithelial cell sheet during wound closure. More information on cell sheet migration. More information on the neutrophil movie.
The MDCK movie is from: Farooqui, R.; Fenteany, G. Multiple rows of cells behind an epithelial wound edge extend cryptic lamellipodia to collectively drive cell-sheet movement. J. Cell Sci. 2005, 118, 51-63. [Abstract] [HTML] [PDF] (This work was highlighted in J. Cell Sci. 118, 103e.)
The neutrophil footage was captured by the late David Rogers of Vanderbilt University.
More on neutrophil migration: Fenteany, G.; Glogauer, M. Cytoskeletal remodeling in leukocyte function. Curr. Opin. Hematol. 2004, 11, 15-24. [Abstract] [HTML] [PDF]
Submarginal membrane protrusions form shortly after wounding and display typical lamellipodial morphology and dynamics. Time-lapse sequence of a basal focal plane of a wounded MDCK cell monolayer (1:10 ratio of GFP-actin-expressing:non-transfected cells) immediately after wounding to 4 hours post-wounding, imaged by two-photon microscopy. The visible GFP-actin-expressing submarginal cells are 4-5 cell rows from the wound margin. The dark area to the right of the visible cells is composed of non-transfected submarginal cells. The wound margin is out of the frame further to the right. More information on the mechanism of cell sheet migration.
From: Farooqui, R.; Fenteany, G. Multiple rows of cells behind an epithelial wound edge extend cryptic lamellipodia to collectively drive cell-sheet movement. J. Cell Sci. 2005, 118, 51-63. [Abstract] [HTML] [PDF] (This work was highlighted in J. Cell Sci. 118, 103e.)
More information on the cytoskeleton and cell motility.