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Spatiotemporal Control Over Multicellular Migration Using Green Light Reversible Cell–Cell Interactions
Author(s) -
Nzigou Mombo Brice,
Bijonowski Brent M.,
Rasoulinejad Samaneh,
Mueller Marc,
Wegner Seraphine V.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2701-0198
DOI - 10.1002/adbi.202000199
Subject(s) - multicellular organism , cell , microbiology and biotechnology , cell adhesion , cell migration , cell membrane , cell–cell interaction , cell type , cell growth , biology , cell signaling , intracellular , chemistry , signal transduction , biochemistry
The regulation of cell–cell adhesions in space and time plays a crucial role in cell biology, especially in the coordination of multicellular behavior. Therefore, tools that allow for the modulation of cell–cell interactions with high precision are of great interest to a better understanding of their roles and building tissue‐like structures. Herein, the green light‐responsive protein CarH is expressed at the plasma membrane of cells as an artificial cell adhesion receptor, so that upon addition of its cofactor vitamin B 12 specific cell–cell interactions form and lead to cell clustering in a concentration‐dependent manner. Upon green light illumination, the CarH based cell–cell interactions disassemble and allow for their reversion with high spatiotemporal control. Moreover, these artificial cell–cell interactions impact cell migration, as observed in a wound‐healing assay. When the cells interact with each other in the presence of vitamin B 12 in the dark, the cells form on a solid front and migrate collectively; however, under green light illumination, individual cells migrate randomly out of the monolayer. Overall, the possibility of precisely controlling cell–cell interactions and regulating multicellular behavior is a potential pathway to gaining more insight into cell–cell interactions in biological processes.