日時：	2026年10月27日（火）　16：00～17：00
場所：	医生物学研究所　医生研１号館１階会議室（134室） Seminar Room (#134), 1st Floor, Bldg. No.1, LiME URL：https://www.infront.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/access/
演者：	Dr. Leone Rossetti Lecturer in Bioengineering, King's College London
演題：	Understanding collective cell migration using light-controlled leader cells

講演要旨

During development, wound healing, and cancer invasion, migrating cell clusters feature highly protrusive leader cells at their front. Leader cells are thought to pull and direct their cohort of followers, but whether their local action is enough to guide the entire cluster, or if a global mechanical organization is needed, remains controversial.

In this talk I will show that the effectiveness of leader-follower organization is proportional to the asymmetry of traction and tension within cell clusters. By combining hydrogel micropatterning and optogenetic activation, we generated highly protrusive leaders at the edge of minimal cell clusters. We found that the induced leader can robustly drag one follower but not larger groups. By measuring traction forces and tension propagation in clusters of increasing size, we established a quantitative relationship between group velocity and the asymmetry of the traction and tension profiles. Modelling motile clusters as active polar fluids, we explained this force-velocity relationship in terms of asymmetries in the active traction profile. Our results challenge the notion of autonomous leader cells, showing that collective cell migration requires global mechanical organization within the cluster.

20261027セミナー_KCL_Dr. Rossetti

Host:
医生物学研究所　発生システム制御分野
三井　優輔　mii.yusuke.7j[@]kyoto-u.ac.jp