Chase-and-run between adjacent cell populations promotes directional collective migration

Eric Theveneau, Benjamin Steventon, Elena Scarpa, Simon Garcia, Xavier Trepat, Andrea Streit and Roberto Mayor

Nature Cell Biology (2013) 15, 763–772

Speaker: Hsin-I Wang (汪欣儀)                     Time: 15:00~16:00, Nov. 13, 2013

Commentator: Dr. Nan-Shan Chang (張南山博士)      Place: Room 601

Abstract:

Cancer cells can recruit healthy cells and use them to travel long distances. Cell migration is essential in morphogenesis and cancer metastasis, and often involves the coordinated movement of different cell types (1, 2). How this process takes place and how it could be controlled remains unknown. To investigate this problem, the authors used two kinds of embryonic cells to unravel this process. One was neural crest cells (NC), which are similar to cancer cells in term of their invasive behavior (3). The other was placode cells (PL), which are the precursors for cranial nerves and equivalent to healthy cells (4). When NC were put next to PL, they underwent a dramatic transformation and start 'chasing' the PL. PL exhibited 'escape' behavior when contacted by NC. This interaction requires the generation of asymmetric forces, which depend on contact inhibition of locomotion. This repolarization significantly biased the movement of cells away from the region of cell-cell interactions. Furthermore, NC chased PL in an Sdf1-dependent manner, and PL run away as they contacted NC, by mechanism involving PCP and N-cadherin signaling. This chase-and-run behavior may represent a more general mechanism to explain the coordinated migration of cells with different properties, from embryo development to cancer metastasis.

References:

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2.         Friedl, P. & Gilmour, D. Collective cell migration in morphogenesis, regeneration and cancer. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 10, 445-457 (2009).

3.         Theveneau, E. & Mayor, R. Neural crest delamination and migration: from epithelium-to-mesenchyme transition to collective cell migration. Dev. Biol. 366, 34-54 (2012).

4.         Schlosser, G. Making senses development of vertebrate cranial placodes. Int. Rev. Cell Mol. Biol. 283, 129-234 (2010).