The Number of Lines a Cell Contacts and Cell Contractility Drive the Efficiency of Contact Guidance

Cell migration is an important biological function that impacts many physiological and pathological processes. Often migration is directed along aligned fibers of collagen at different densities, a process called contact guidance. However, cells adhere to other components in the extracellular matrix, possibly affecting migrational behavior. Additionally, changes in intracellular contractility are well known to affect random migration, but its effect on contact guidance is less known. This study examines differences in directed migration in response to variations in the spacing of collagen, non-specific background adhesion strength and myosin II-mediated contractility. Collagen was microcontact printed onto glass substrates and timelapse live-cell microscopy was used to measure migration characteristics. Increasing the number of lines a cell contacts or decreasing contraction led to decreases in directionality, but speed changes were context dependent. This suggests that while cell migration speed is a biphasic function of contractility, directionality appears to be a monotonic, increasing function of contractility. Thus, increasing the number of lines a cell contacts or decreasing contractility degrades the contact guidance fidelity.