Coherent turning behaviors revealed across adherent cells
Adherent cells have long been known to display two modes during migration: a faster mode that is persistent in direction and a slower one where they turn. Compared to the persistent mode, the turns are less studied. Here we develop a simple yet effective protocol to isolate the turns quantitatively. With the protocol, we study different adherent cells in different morphological states and find that, during turns, the cells behave as rotors with constant turning rates but random turning directions. To perform tactic motion, the cells bias the sign of turning towards the stimuli. Our results clarify the bimodal kinematics of adherent cell migration. Compared to the rotational-diffusion-based turning dynamics, which has been widely implemented, our data reveal a distinct picture, where turns are governed by a deterministic angular velocity.
Authors
- Fangfu Ye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1279-105X)
- Yiyu Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6033-5898)
- Xiaoyu Yu
- Da Wei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6226-0639)
- Ye Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6406-7832)
- Qihui Fan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6408-8369)
- Boyuan Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1223-9230)
Institutions
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- FZU ‒ Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ)
- Zhejiang Lab (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Beihang University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Research
- Published
- 2025-05-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevresearch.7.023122
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Cellular Mechanics and Interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.15
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
- National Key Research and Development Program of China
- Youth Innovation Promotion Association