Cell Migration in Extracellular Matrices - Cellular Potts Models: Multiscale Extensions and Biological Applications - page 172

FIGURE 9.3: Orientation of cell migration along the matrix fiber topology.
Cell mean square displacement (MSD), average velocity, and persistence time
as functions of the alignment index N align , defined in (9.5), for both 2D and
3D matrices. The values are given as means s.d. over 50 randomly chosen
individuals. The directional component of cell motion increases as all fibers
align, with no change in cell speed.
a direct result of well-defined directional guidance cues provided by the specific
matrices. In fact, the anisotropy of the matrices induces a reorientation of
moving cells in the direction of the threads, i.e., with the formation of clearly
distinguishable leading and trailing edges; see the simulation-based images in
Figure 9.2(A-B). The consequent motion along them is no longer an isotropic
Brownian movement but is highly biased.
The influence of the ECM geometry and architecture on the migration of
individual cells has been widely treated in the literature with in vitro and in
vivo studies. In particular, several experimental models have demonstrated
the cell preference to migrate along aligned matrix fibers, as in the case of -
broblasts in collagen-like gels [105] or neuronal cells on fibrin substrates [119].
Moreover, manipulations of the topology of two-dimensional matrices using