Emergent patterns of collective cell migration under tubular confinement

Wang Xi, Surabhi Sonam, Thuan Beng Saw, Benoit Ladoux () and Chwee Teck Lim ()
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Wang Xi: National University of Singapore, 5A Engineering Drive 1
Surabhi Sonam: National University of Singapore, 5A Engineering Drive 1
Thuan Beng Saw: National University of Singapore, 5A Engineering Drive 1
Benoit Ladoux: National University of Singapore, 5A Engineering Drive 1
Chwee Teck Lim: National University of Singapore, 5A Engineering Drive 1

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Collective epithelial behaviors are essential for the development of lumens in organs. However, conventional assays of planar systems fail to replicate cell cohorts of tubular structures that advance in concerted ways on out-of-plane curved and confined surfaces, such as ductal elongation in vivo. Here, we mimic such coordinated tissue migration by forming lumens of epithelial cell sheets inside microtubes of 1–10 cell lengths in diameter. We show that these cell tubes reproduce the physiological apical–basal polarity, and have actin alignment, cell orientation, tissue organization, and migration modes that depend on the extent of tubular confinement and/or curvature. In contrast to flat constraint, the cell sheets in a highly constricted smaller microtube demonstrate slow motion with periodic relaxation, but fast overall movement in large microtubes. Altogether, our findings provide insights into the emerging migratory modes for epithelial migration and growth under tubular confinement, which are reminiscent of the in vivo scenario.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01390-x

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