Collective cell durotaxis emerges from long-range intercellular force transmission
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Raimon Sunyer Vito Conte Jorge Escribano Alberto Elosegui Artola Anna Labernadie Léo Valon Daniel Navajas José Manuel García-Aznar José J Muñoz Pere Roca-Cusachs Xavier TrepatAbstract
The ability of cells to follow gradients of extracellular matrix stiffness-durotaxis-has been implicated in development, fibrosis, and cancer. Here, we found multicellular clusters that exhibited durotaxis even if isolated constituent cells did not. This emergent mode of directed collective cell migration applied to a variety of epithelial cell types, required the action of myosin motors, and originated from supracellular transmission of contractile physical forces. To explain the observed phenomenology, we developed a generalized clutch model in which local stick-slip dynamics of cell-matrix adhesions was integrated to the tissue level through cell-cell junctions. Collective durotaxis is far more efficient than single-cell durotaxis; it thus emerges as a robust mechanism to direct cell migration during development, wound healing, and collective cancer cell invasion.
Journal details
Journal Science
Volume 353
Issue number 6304
Pages 1157-1161
Available online
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Publisher website (DOI) 10.1126/science.aaf7119
Europe PubMed Central 27609894
Pubmed 27609894
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