Novel Forms of epithelial cell motility on collagen and on glass surfaces

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The motility of an epithelial cell line NBT-II derived from a rat bladder tumor was examined on glass and on collagen. On glass the cells rotate in groups of 2–8 cells. Rotatory migration ceases as cells enter into mitosis; after mitosis, the daughter cells spread out and participate in the rotatory activity of the group. As the number of cells in a group increases the rate of rotatory migration slows, and groups with ten cells or more do not rotate consistently. On collagen NBT-II cells migrate as single cells in a smooth gliding fashion, with the broad lamellipodia as the leading front. After mitosis, the two daughter cells separate at 180° of each other and migrate away independently. Before totally spreading out on the collagen surface, the pair of daughter cells shows a characteristic twist of about 60° from their original position at telophase. The difference in motility of NBT II cells on glass and on collagen is explained in terms of differences in cell-to-cell cohesion and cell-to-substrate adhesion.