Cellular mechanisms controlling cell migration in complex in vivo contexts

细胞迁移是发育、稳态和疾病的关键过程。因此，了解控制细胞迁移的机制对于理解一系列生物事件非常重要。在它们的迁移过程中，细胞与其他细胞类型和细胞外基质组分相互作用，细胞外基质组分构成影响细胞运动的迁移基质或障碍。因此，识别环境中影响细胞迁移的特征并研究相应的细胞反应对于不同的过程是相关的。该项目的目的是利用斑马鱼原始生殖细胞作为脊椎动物体内单细胞迁移模型来研究这一课题。拟议的工作将利用遗传和反向遗传工具，再加上数学分析，以确定环境中的结构，改变不同的动态参数和相关的细胞迁移的反应。一方面，将在对细胞迁移速度和方向性的影响水平上，另一方面，将在对细胞形态和潜在分子细胞极性的影响水平上，分析所识别的组织特征的影响。总之，这些研究将提供一个全面的了解的分子和细胞机制控制单细胞在体内组织内的迁移。

Cell migration is a key process in development, homeostasis and disease. Understanding the mechanisms controlling the migration of cells is thus important for understanding of a range of biological events. During their migration, cells interact with other cell types and with extracellular matrix components, which constitute migration substrates or hurdles that influence the movement of the cells. Identifying the features in the environment that affect cell migration and studying the corresponding cellular responses is thus of relevance for different processes. The aim of the proposed project is to employ zebrafish primordial germ cells as an in vivo vertebrate single cell migration model for studying this topic. The proposed work will make use of genetic and reverse genetic tools coupled with mathematical analysis to identify structures in the environment that alter different dynamic parameters and responses relevant for cell migration. The effect of the identified tissue features will be analyzed at the level of the impact on cell migration speed and directionality on one hand and on cell morphology and the underlying molecular cell polarity on the other. Together, these studies will provide a comprehensive understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms controlling the migration of single cells within the tissue in vivo.