Open AccessTurning behaviors of T cells climbing up ramp-like structures are regulated by myosin light chain kinase activity and lamellipodia formation
Author(s) -
Kwang Hoon Song,
Jae-Hyun Lee,
Hong-Ryul Jung,
Hyoungjun Park,
Junsang Doh
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-017-11938-y
Subject(s) - lamellipodium , myosin light chain kinase , climbing , myosin , microbiology and biotechnology , immunoglobulin light chain , chain (unit) , chemistry , biology , physics , biochemistry , genetics , cell migration , cell , ecology , astronomy , antibody
T cells navigate diverse microenvironments to perform immune responses. Micro-scale topographical structures within the tissues, which may inherently exist in normal tissues or may be formed by inflammation or injury, can influence T cell migration, but how T cell migration is affected by such topographical structures have not been investigated. In this study, we fabricated ramp-like structures with a 5 μm height and various slopes, and observed T cells climbing up the ramp-like structures. T cells encountering the ramp-like structures exhibited MLC accumulation near head-tail junctions contacting the ramp-like structures, and made turns to the direction perpendicular to the ramp-like structures. Pharmacological study revealed that lamellipodia formation mediated by arp2/3 and contractility regulated by myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) were responsible for the intriguing turning behavior of T cells climbing the ramp-like structures. Arp2/3 or MLCK inhibition substantially reduced probability of T cells climbing sharp-edged ramp-like structures, indicating intriguing turning behavior of T cells mediated by lamellipodia formation and MLCK activity may be important for T cells to access inflamed or injured tissues with abrupt topographical changes.