A modeling approach to study the effect of cell polarization on keratinocyte migration

TL;DR

This paper presents a computational model to analyze keratinocyte migration and polarization during skin wound healing, enabling large-scale assessment of genetic or pharmacological effects on cell behavior.

Contribution

The study introduces a minimal-parameter model for live-cell image analysis of keratinocyte migration and polarization, facilitating large-scale phenotypic analysis.

Findings

Model accurately analyzes cell migration and polarization.

Identifies impaired polarization in genetically modified keratinocytes.

Supports large-scale screening of treatments affecting cell migration.

Abstract

The skin forms an efficient barrier against the environment, and rapid cutaneous wound healing after injury is therefore essential. Healing of the uppermost layer of the skin, the epidermis, involves collective migration of keratinocytes, which requires coordinated polarization of the cells. To study this process, we developed a model that allows analysis of live-cell images of migrating keratinocytes in culture based on a small number of parameters, including the radius of the cells, their mass and their polarization. This computational approach allowed the analysis of cell migration at the front of the wound and a reliable identification and quantification of the impaired polarization and migration of keratinocytes from mice lacking fibroblast growth factors 1 and 2 an established model of impaired healing. Therefore, our modeling approach is suitable for large-scale analysis of migration phenotypes of cells with specific genetic defects or upon treatment with different pharmacological agents.