Collective cell migration

Collective cell migration describes the movements of group of cells and the emergence of collective behavior from cell-environment interactions and cell-cell communication. Collective cell migration is an essential process in the lives of multicellular organisms, e.g. embryonic development, wound healing and cancer spreading (metastasis). Cells can migrate as a cohesive group (e.g. epithelial cells) or have transient cell-cell adhesion sites (e.g. mesenchymal cells). They can also migrate in different modes like sheets, strands, tubes, and clusters. While single-cell migration has been extensively studied, collective cell migration is a relatively new field with applications in preventing birth defects or dysfunction of embryos. It may improve cancer treatment by enabling doctors to prevent tumors from spreading and forming new tumors.