Cell Motility, Contact Guidance and Mechanotaxis
Mario D’Acunto,
Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell’Informazione, ISTI-CNR,
via Moruzzi 1, 56124, Pisa, Italy
mario.dacunto@isti.cnr.it
Istituto di Struttura della Materia, ISM-CNR
Via Fosso del Cavaliere, 100, Roma, Italy
mario.dacunto@ism.cnr.it
NanoICT Laboratory, Area della Ricerca CNR di Pisa
Via Moruzzi 1, 56124, Pisa, Italy
Keywords: Cell motility, Contact Guidance, Mechanotaxis, Scanning Probe Microscopy
As the basic unit of life, cells are complex biological systems. Cells must express genetic information to
perform their specialized functions: synthesize, modify, sort, store and transport biomolecule, covert
different forms of energy, transduce signals, maintain internal structures and respond to external
environments. All of these processes involve a combination of mechanical, chemical and physical
processes. In a special way, mechanical forces play a fundamental role in cell migration, where contractile
forces are generated within the cell and pull the cell body forward. On the other side, mechanical forces and
deformations induce biological response in cells, and many normal and diseased conditions of cells are
dependent upon or regulated by their mechanical environment. The effects of applied forces depend on the
type of cells and how the forces are applied on, transmitted into, and distributed within cells. Traction
forces exerted by cells on substrates can now be determined with a good degree of accuracy, but the
intimate relation between cell shape and traction mechanics requires further qualitative investigation.
Several imaging techniques and strategies have been developed with the purpose to study in situ and in real
time the cell motility in different environments. In this talk, we overview Scanning Probe Microscopy
(SPM) based imaging techniques developed to follow cell-cell and cell-substrate interactions during cell
migration [1-2].
[1] M. D’Acunto et al., Nanotribological Perspectives In Tissue Engineering. In: Fundamentals of Friction
and Wear on the Nanoscale / GNECCO; E.; MEYER; E. Springer-Verlag, BERLIN-HEIDELBERG,
(2007),677-708.
[2] M. D’Acunto, S. Danti, O. Salvetti, to published on a Springer Book review