Cell Motility LS5001

Animal cell locomotion

in animal multicellular tissues used to manoeuvre through spaces in ECM and surfaces of other cells

ECM

Extracellular matrix

Cell locomotion

results from co-ordination of motions generated by different parts of the cell

Filapodia

have parallel bundles of actin whereas

lamellipodia have a meshwork similar to that at the cell cortex

Different regions of a migrating cell have

different actin architecture

Thin cortical zone just below the plasma membrane

is a highly active region

Actin filaments cannot interact with one another without

various actin-binding proteins

Actin filaments

essential protein structures that form part of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton, providing cell shape and enabling various forms of cellular movement, such as muscle contraction and cell migration, composed of G-actin proteins polymerized into long, flexible, polar chains

Nucleating proteins

(e.g. Arp2/3 complex) enable 2 or 3 actin monomers together to begin to form the polymer

Monomer sequestering proteins