Collective cell migration without proliferation: density determines cell velocity and wave velocity

TL;DR

This study investigates how cell density influences collective cell migration, velocity, and wave propagation in monolayers, revealing that density and cell size are key factors, with a model explaining strain-polarity coupling effects.

Contribution

It introduces a model linking cell density, mechanical properties, and polarity to explain long-range migration dynamics without proliferation.

Findings

Velocity and wave velocity increase linearly with cell size.

Waves propagate backwards with frequency depending on front density.

Inhibiting lamellipodia reduces velocity and wave frequency.

Abstract

Collective cell migration contributes to embryogenesis, wound healing and tumor metastasis. Cell monolayer migration experiments help understanding what determines the movement of cells far from the leading edge. Inhibiting cell proliferation limits cell density increase and prevents jamming; we observe long-duration migration and quantify space-time characteristics of the velocity profile over large length- and time-scales. Velocity waves propagate backwards and their frequency depends only on cell density at the moving front. Both cell average velocity and wave velocity increase linearly with the cell effective radius regardless of the distance to the front. Inhibiting lamellipodia decreases cell velocity while waves either disappear or have a lower frequency. Our model combines conservation laws, monolayer mechanical properties and a phenomenological coupling between strain and polarity: advancing cells pull on their followers which then become polarized. With reasonable values of parameters, this model agrees with several of our experimental observations. Together, our experiments and model disantangle the respective contributions of active velocity and of proliferation in monolayer migration, explain how cells maintain their polarity far from the moving front, and highlight the importance of strain-polarity coupling and density in long-range information propagation.