Computational Studies of Amoeboid Cell Motility in Three-dimensional Matrices

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Sakamoto, Yusuke Prudhomme, Serge Zaman, Muhammad H.
Copyright Year	2009
Abstract	Tumor cells, upon loss of integrins or proteolytic machinery, are able to navigate through complex matrices through adhesion-independent or amoeboid mechanism. While adhesion dependent migration has been studied in both 2D and 3D environments, quantitative models of amoeboid motion in native environments are lacking. We have developed twoand threedimensional models of an amoeboid cell crawling through extracellular matrix (ECM) gaps using the finite element method. The model provides a powerful tool for the analysis of interactions between a cell and extracellular matrix and fluids in vitro and in vivo. The cell is modeled as an incompressible Newtonian fluid with surface tension on its boundary, where the chemotactic gradient induces the cell migration through a micro-channel. The relationships among the speed of the cell, diameter of a hole with respect to a size of the cell, the strength of the gradient, surface tension, and viscosity of the fluid inside/outside of the cell are calculated. Our results highlight the dependence of overall speed on both internal and external mechanochemical gradients, predict the centroid speed in 3D micro-channels and provide a quantitative framework to develop a fundamental understanding of complex cell motion in 3D environments.
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://www.oden.utexas.edu/media/reports/2009/0927.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article