Dissecting the control circuit for cell migration
Most studies of cell migration have taken a bottom-up approach, focusing on identifying molecular players and their interactions. To gain a big picture engineering perspective of cell migration, we have taken a top-down approach by treating migrating cells as a moving machine consisting of a dynamic actuation mechanism under the control of sensing and positive/negative feedback mechanisms. Using a combination of microfabrication, composite materials, microfluidics, and computer modeling, we have gained new insights into the propulsive machinery and the control circuit responsible for steering cell migration both at steady state and in response to mechanical cues. The regularity of cell migrating along 1D in particular has provided a powerful window into the control mechanism behind events like symmetry breaking, polarity reversal, and oscillation induced by nocodazole. Our results led us to the provocative conclusion that tail activities are crucial to directional migration and that microtubules and centrosomes play a key role in defining a tail.
Bio
Yu-li Wang, the R. Mehrabian Professor and Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, holds a B.S. in Physics from National Taiwan University and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from Harvard University. Prior to moving to Carnegie Mellon University in 2008, he was a Professor of Physiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. His rich academic training and working experiences have encompassed colleges of basic science, medicine, and engineering, as well as medical centers and research institutes. His research has focused on aspects of cellular mechanical activities that serve as the foundation of cell and tissue engineering. Major contributions include the development of live cell imaging using fluorescently tagged proteins (1970’s; Landmark Paper in Cell Biology), the elucidation of frontal extension mechanism for cell migration (1980’s), the development of elastic polyacrylamide substrates for cellular mechanical studies including traction force microscopy (1990’s), the demonstration of cellular sensitivities to materials rigidity (1990’s), and the discovery of preferential cellular migration toward rigid materials (2000’s). His studies have been described in textbooks and have provided some of the fundamental principles for the fields of cell mechanics and tissue engineering.