Plasticity in cell migration modes across development, physiology, and disease

Mona Pourjafar; Vijay K Tiwari

doi:10.3389/fcell.2024.1363361

Plasticity in cell migration modes across development, physiology, and disease

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2024 Apr 23:12:1363361. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1363361. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Mona Pourjafar¹, Vijay K Tiwari^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, Odense C, Denmark.
² Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Biomedical Science, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom.
³ Danish Institute for Advanced Study (DIAS), Odense M, Denmark.
⁴ Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense C, Denmark.

Abstract

Cell migration is fundamental to both development and adult physiology, including gastrulation, brain development, angiogenesis, wound healing, bone remodeling, tissue homeostasis, and the immune response. Additionally, misguided cellular migration is implicated in disease pathologies such as cancer metastasis and fibrosis. The microenvironment influences cell migration modes such as mesenchymal, amoeboid, lobopodial, and collective, and these are governed through local signaling by affecting the gene expression and epigenetic alteration of migration-related genes. Plasticity in switching between migration modes is essential for key cellular processes across various contexts. Understanding the mechanisms of cell migration modes and its plasticity is essential for unraveling the complexities of this process and revealing its implications in physiological and pathological contexts. This review focuses on different modes of cell migration, including their aberrant migration in disease pathologies and how they can be therapeutically targeted in disease conditions such as cancer.

Keywords: cell migration; cell signaling; cellular plasticity; cytoskeleton; gene expression; microenvironment.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by Innovation to Commercialisation of University Research (ICURe).