Modelling how curved active proteins and shear flow pattern cellular shape and motility

Sadhukhan, Shubhadeep (author), Penič, Samo (author), Iglič, Aleš (author), Gov, Nir S. (author)

Cell spreading and motility on an adhesive substrate are driven by the active physical forces generated by the actin cytoskeleton. We have recently shown that coupling curved membrane complexes to protrusive forces, exerted by the actin polymerization that they recruit, provides a mechanism that can give rise to spontaneous membrane shapes and patterns. In the presence of an adhesive substrate, this model was shown to give rise to an emergent motile phenotype, resembling a motile cell. Here, we utilize this “minimal-cell” model to explore the impact of external shear flow on the cell shape and migration on a uniform adhesive flat substrate. We find that in the presence of shear the motile cell reorients such that its leading edge, where the curved active proteins aggregate, faces the shear flow. The flow-facing configuration is found to minimize the adhesion energy by allowing the cell to spread more efficiently over the substrate. For the non-motile vesicle shapes, we find that they mostly slide and roll with the shear flow. We compare these theoretical results with experimental observations, and suggest that the tendency of many cell types to move against the flow may arise from the very general, and non-cell-type-specific mechanism predicted by our model.

• Language: English
• Keywords: cell motility, cytoskeleton, shear flow, adhesion, curved membrane protein
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FE - Faculty of Electrical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 31.05.2023
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: Str. 1-10
• Numbering: Vol. 11, [article no.] 1193793
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-155438
• UDC: 577
• ISSN on article: 2296-634X
• DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1193793
• COBISS.SI-ID: 154483715
• Publication date in RUL: 02.04.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Frontiers in cell and developmental biology
• Shortened title: Front. cell dev. biol.
• Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
• ISSN: 2296-634X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 523093529

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: mobilnost celice, citoskeleton, strižni tok, adhezija, ukrivljenost proteinov v membrani