Sommaire:

Epithelial cells can migrate collectively on free surface while maintaining strong cell-cell adhesions. To experimentally study this collective motility, we culture epithelial (MDCK) cells to confluence within the apertures of micro-stencils previously put on the substrate. The peeling-off of the stencil triggers the migration without damaging the border cells. This collective motility can be characterized by using Particle Image Velocimetry. It involves long-range coordinated displacements of large groups of cells well within the monolayer that are well described by a simple model of self-propelled interacting particles. In a second stage, the edges of these epithelia roughen drastically and exhibit a strong directional fingering led by a cell of different phenotype - a “leader cell” - initially not discernible from the others. Interestingly, similarly looking leader cells are found in a large number of different situations in morphogenesis or local invasion from tumors. In this talk I’ll question the nature of these cells and the properties of the migration fingers by using a variety of physical techniques (image analysis, force measurements, laser photoablation) together with the mapping of the biochemical activity of migration-involved small GTPases.

Pour plus d'informations, merci de contacter Berthier L.