Adaptive motility enables neutrophils to rapidly navigate confined capillaries
To reach inflamed tissues, neutrophils must traverse capillaries as narrow as 2 micrometers. However, how they do so without compromising blood flow or capillary function has remained unclear. By combining intravital live-cell imaging with biomimetic microdevices, we show that neutrophils maintain migration speed in capillaries across increasing levels of confinement. This behavior was not shared by other leukocytes and was independent of nuclear properties. Instead, confinement rapidly engaged Rho-dependent actomyosin contractility at the cell rear, thereby offsetting the increased mechanical resistance imposed by confinement. Disrupting this adaptive response caused neutrophil jamming and eventual occlusion of confined capillary-like networks. These findings identify a neutrophil-intrinsic mechanism that couples capillary confinement to rapid migratory adaptation, helping preserve vascular patency and potentially limiting tissue dysfunction during inflammation.
Authors
- Emmanuel Tejerina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8673-1493)
- Guillaume Duménil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9174-9110)
- Henry De Belly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2452-4450)
- Ángela Saéz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9189-4737)
- Theresa Jakuszeit (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3848-7486)
- Raquel Gómez-Bris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6665-7732)
- Ana‐Maria Lennon‐Duménil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8220-4482)
- Orion D. Weiner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1778-6543)
- Pierre Nivoit (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4893-6348)
- Damien Cuvelier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9875-1467)
- Serge Garbay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1396-8438)
- Alexandre Deslys (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3241-035X)
- Mathieu Maurin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3555-6247)
- Pablo Vargas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6475-494X)
- Emmanuel Terriac (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8769-242X)
- José María González (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1177-869X)
- Vicente Andrés (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0125-7209)
- Mathilde Bernard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1158-7623)
- Rafaële Attia
- Pilar Gonzalo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8811-8369)
- Matthieu Piel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2848-177X)
- Lucie Barbier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7102-3566)
- Mathieu Deygas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3417-8133)
- Marina Ortega-Zapero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7358-3265)
- Li Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9646-4536)
- Moira García-Gómez
- Oumaima Baaziz
- Anna Kniazeva
Institutions
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Inserm (FR)
- Institut Pasteur (FR)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Université Paris Cité (FR)
- Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (ES)
- Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR)
- Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (ES)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Institut Necker Enfants Malades (FR)
- Research Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre (ES)
- Institut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes pour la Microfluidique (FR)
- Centro de Investigación en Red en Enfermedades Cardiovasculares (ES)
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (ES)
- Biologie cellulaire et Cancer (FR)
- Institut Curie (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Immunology
- Published
- 2026-09-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciimmunol.aea1426
- Primary Topic
- Cellular Mechanics and Interactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Human Frontier Science Program
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale
- Fondation ARC pour la Recherche sur le Cancer
- Institut Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
- Université de Paris
- National Institutes of Health
- European Research Council
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación