Seeing around corners: Cells solve mazes and respond at a distance using attractant breakdown.

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Paper Summary

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Cells Solve Mazes by Eating Their Way Through: Self-Generated Chemical Trails Guide Cell Navigation

This study reveals how cells can navigate complex environments, like mazes, by creating their own chemical gradients through local degradation of attractants. Using both computational models and experiments with Dictyostelium cells and mouse pancreatic cancer cells, the researchers show that cells efficiently find their way through mazes, with accuracy depending on factors like attractant diffusivity, cell speed, and path complexity. The findings suggest that self-generated gradients are crucial for successful navigation during long-range migratory processes like inflammation and germ cell migration.

Possible Conflicts of Interest

None identified

Identified Weaknesses

Limited Model Organisms

The research primarily uses Dictyostelium cells and mouse pancreatic cancer cells. While the mechanisms described may be general, further research is needed to confirm that these findings translate directly to other cell types and more complex in vivo environments like those found in embryogenesis, immune responses, or neural pathfinding.

Simplified In Vitro Model

Although microfluidic devices were used to mimic complex environments, these are still simplified representations of the in vivo conditions cells encounter. Factors like variations in tissue density, fluid flow, and interactions with other cell types could influence cell behavior in ways not captured by the current experimental setup.

Limited Scope of Attractant Interactions

Further research is needed to validate and understand the interactions between different attractants or repellants that cells create or degrade. The study has focused on a particular type of attractant breakdown, but other mechanisms may play a role in chemotaxis and need further exploration.

Rating Explanation

This study presents a novel mechanism for long-range cell navigation in complex environments. The combination of computational modeling, microfluidic experiments, and mathematical analysis provides strong support for the proposed mechanism. While the study relies on in vitro models and a limited number of cell types, the findings have broad implications for understanding cell migration in diverse biological processes and warrant further investigation in more complex in vivo systems. There is no financial or professional conflict of interest disclosed in the manuscript.

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