Analysis of the formation and function of different cell protrusion types during cell migration in vivo

细胞突起在细胞运动中起核心作用。在二维基质上的组织培养细胞中细胞突起的形成和功能已经被广泛分析。然而，越来越多的观察表明，三维环境中的细胞形成了更广泛的突起，其形成和功能仍然知之甚少。为了深入了解这些不同类型的细胞突起的生成和功能，在体内三维细胞迁移过程中，我们建议分析细胞突起的形成和运动的中胚层和内胚层（mesendoderm）的胚层祖细胞在斑马鱼原肠胚形成。为此，我们将（1）分析细胞骨架和细胞粘附在不同类型祖细胞突起形成中的作用，（2）确定不同突起类型在原肠胚形成期间祖细胞运动中的功能，以及（3）开发理论模型，基于特定的机械和粘附祖细胞特性，预测不同细胞突起类型的形成。我们希望这项研究将提供新的见解，不同类型的细胞突起的形成和功能的细胞迁移在体内。

Cell protrusions play a central role in cell movement. The formation and function of cell protrusions in tissue culture cells on two-dimensional substrates has already been extensively analyzed. However, an increasing number of observations suggest that cells in three-dimensional environments form a much wider variety of protrusions, the formation and function of which is yet only poorly understood. To obtain insights into the generation and function of these different types of cell protrusions during threedimensional cell migration in vivo, we propose to analyze cell protrusion formation and movements of mesoderm and endoderm (mesendoderm) germ layer progenitor cells during zebrafish gastrulation. Towards this aim, we will (1) analyze the role of the cytoskeleton and cell adhesion in the formation of different types of progenitor cell protrusions, (2) determine the function of different protrusion types in progenitor cell movements during gastrulation, and (3) develop theoretical models that, based on the specific mechanical and adhesive progenitor cell properties, predict the formation of different cell protrusion types. We expect that this study wilt provide novel insights into the formation and function of different types of cellular protrusions for cell migration in vivo.