Cell Motility and Intercellular Interactions in Tissue Environments
Summary
Cells navigate complex tissue landscapes by integrating biochemical cues, mechanical forces and dynamic adhesions. Single cells may migrate individually through amoeboid or mesenchymal modes, while epithelial sheets and stromal cohorts move collectively, coordinating through adherens junctions and paracrine signals. The extracellular matrix (ECM) provides both a scaffold and a reservoir of growth factors, and its stiffness, topography and ligand density steer cell polarity and force generation. Immune cells patrol tissues via rapid chemotaxis, adapting their shape to interstitial constraints. Tumour invasion exploits similar mechanisms, with leader cells forging paths and follower cells reinforcing multicellular strands. Mechanical feedback between cells and their surroundings governs developmental morphogenesis, wound healing and pathological remodelling. Recent advances in high-resolution imaging, biophysical mapping and single-cell profiling have begun to unravel the interplay between molecular regulators—such as integrins, Rho GTPases and chemokines—and emergent collective behaviours in three-dimensional settings. Insights into these processes underpin innovations in regenerative medicine, immunotherapy and anti-metastatic strategies.
Research from Nature Portfolio
Recent studies have characterised how spatial confinement modulates collective migration through a combination of micropatterned substrates and live-cell traction sensing. These investigations reveal that cells adopt a cooperatively regulated tension field, enabling cohesive advancement in narrow channels and facilitating symmetry breaking. Complementary work utilises intravital microscopy alongside optogenetic control of Rho signalling to show that leader cells at wound edges dynamically remodel both cell–cell junctions and underlying matrix fibres, coordinating sheet migration during tissue repair. Single-cell transcriptomic mapping in developing embryonic tissues has further identified subpopulations with distinct migratory programmes, linking transcriptional heterogeneity to specific adhesion receptor repertoires and directed invasion paths. Together, these contributions highlight mechanochemical feedback loops as central orchestrators of motility in physiologically relevant geometries.
Cell Motility and Intercellular Interactions in Tissue Environments publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in cell motility and intercellular interactions in tissue environments across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Active nematic: A fluid-like system of elongated, self-driven elements exhibiting orientational order and topological defects that influence collective flows.
Extracellular matrix (ECM): A network of proteins and polysaccharides secreted by cells, providing structural support and biochemical signals within tissues.
Leader cell: A specialised front-line cell in a migrating group that senses directional cues and orchestrates collective movement.
Traction force microscopy: A quantitative technique that maps forces exerted by cells on compliant substrates by tracking substrate deformations.
Chemokine gradient: A spatially varying concentration of chemoattractant molecules that directs cell migration through receptor-mediated signalling.
References
- Crisscross multilayering of cell sheets. PNAS Nexus (2023).
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