Directional-to-random transition of cell cluster migration  

作　　者：曾阳 车丙晨 孙聃 张策 经光银 Yang Zeng;Bingchen Che;Dan Sun;Ce Zhang;Guangyin Jing(State Key Laboratory of Photon-Technology in Western China Energy,Institute of Photonics and Photon-Technology,Northwest University,Xi’an 710127,China;School of Physics,Northwest University,Xi’an 710127,China)

机构地区：[1]State Key Laboratory of Photon-Technology in Western China Energy,Institute of Photonics and Photon-Technology,Northwest University,Xi’an 710127,China [2]School of Physics,Northwest University,Xi’an 710127,China

出　　处：《Chinese Physics B》2023年第11期168-172,共5页中国物理B（英文版）

基　　金：Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51927804 and 12174306);the Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi Province of China (Grant No. 2023-JC-JQ-02)。

摘　　要：Efficient cell migration is crucial for the functioning of biological processes, e.g., morphogenesis, wound healing, and cancer metastasis. In this study, we monitor the migratory behavior of the 3D fibroblast clusters using live cell microscopy,and find that crowded environment affects cell migration, i.e., crowding leads to directional migration at the cluster’s periphery. The number of cell layers being stacked during seeding determines the directional-to-random transition. Intriguingly,the migratory behavior of cell clusters resembles the dispersion dynamics of clouds of passive particles, indicating that the biological process is driven by physical effects(e.g., entropy) rather than cell communication. Our findings highlight the role of intrinsic physical characteristics, such as crowding, in regulating biological behavior, and suggest new therapeutic approaches targeting at cancer metastasis.

关 键 词：cell migration random walk active wetting cell cluster 

分 类 号：Q25[生物学—细胞生物学] O211.6[理学—概率论与数理统计]