Download The advancing edge: role of geometric constraints in cell

IUTAM symposium on transition and turbulence in flow through deformable tubes and channels
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The advancing edge: role of geometric constraints in cell migrations
Namrata Gundiah∗
Mechanical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India.
Cell motility is fundamental to many mechanisms including those guiding embryogenesis, in wound closure associated with epithelial cell movements, immune response by
white blood cells, and in uncontrolled movement of metastatic cells in cancers. Chemotactic stimuli or morphogens are an integral component of these responses but are alone
insufficient to explain cell migrations, formation of tissues through morphogenesis, and the
measured forces underlying these processes. Mechanical stimuli, such as interfacial tension
between cells, are known to be a fundamental determinant underlying the vast repertoire of
shapes and patterns observed in life. An understanding of the generic principles underlying
self-assembly of individual cells leading to coordinated and collective cellular movements is
challenging because it requires an integrated approach to assess how local perturbations in
cells and shapes lead to collective migrations. In this talk, I will discuss recent investigations in my lab studying migratory behavior of breast cancer cells following constraining
them in specific geometric shapes using a microstencil. Through such studies we show the
importance of geometric curvatures that affect overall coordinated migratory behaviors of
cancer cells.
∗
Electronic address: [email protected]