a b s t r a c tMesenchymal cell migration in interstitial tissue is a cyclic process of coordinated leading edge protrusion, adhesive interaction with extracellular matrix (ECM) ligands, cell contraction followed by retraction and movement of the cell rear. During migration through 3D tissue, the force fields generated by moving cells are non-isotropic and polarized between leading and trailing edge, however the integration of protrusion formation, cell-substrate adhesion, traction force generation and cell translocation in time and space remain unclear. Using high-resolution 3D confocal reflectance and fluorescence microscopy in GFP/actin expressing melanoma cells, we here employ time-resolved subcellular coregistration of cell morphology, interaction and alignment of actin-rich protrusions engaged with individual collagen fibrils. Using single fibril displacement as sensitive measure for force generated by the leading edge, we show how a dominant protrusion generates extension-retraction cycles transmitted through multiple actin-rich filopods that move along the scaffold in a hand-overhand manner. The resulting traction force is oscillatory, occurs in parallel to cell elongation and, with maximum elongation reached, is followed by rear retraction and movement of the cell body. Combined live-cell fluorescence and reflection microscopy of the leading edge thus reveals step-wise caterpillarlike extension-retraction cycles that underlie mesenchymal migration in 3D tissue.
Mobile cells discriminate and adapt to mechanosensory input from extracellular matrix (ECM) topographies to undergo actin-based polarization, shape change and migration. We tested 'cell-intrinsic' and adaptive components of actin-based cell migration in response to widely used in vitro collagen-based substrates, including a continuous 2D surface, discontinuous fibril-based surfaces (2.5D) and fibril-based 3D geometries. Migrating B16F1 mouse melanoma cells expressing GFP-actin developed striking diversity and adaptation of cytoskeletal organization and migration efficacy in response to collagen organization. 2D geometry enabled keratinocyte-like cell spreading and lamellipod-driven motility, with barrier-free movement averaging the directional vectors from one or several leading edges. 3D fibrillar collagen imposed spindle-shaped polarity with a single cylindrical actin-rich leading edge and terminal filopod-like protrusions generating a single force vector. As a mixed phenotype, 2.5D environments prompted a broad but fractalized leading lamella, with multiple terminal filopod-like protrusions engaged with collagen fibrils to generate an average directional vector from multiple, often divergent, interactions. The migratory population reached >90% of the cells with high speeds for 2D, but only 10-30% of the cells and a 3-fold lower speed range for 2.5D and 3D substrates, suggesting substrate continuity as a major determinant of efficient induction and maintenance of migration. These findings implicate substrate geometry as an important input for plasticity and adaptation of the actin cytoskeleton to cope with varying ECM topography and highlight striking preference of moving cells for 2D continuous-shaped over more complex-shaped discontinuous 2.5 and 3D substrate geometries.
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