The physics of eukaryotic chemotaxis

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dc.citation.firstpage24
dc.citation.issueNumber2
dc.citation.journalTitlePhysics Today
dc.citation.lastpage30
dc.citation.volumeNumber66
dc.contributor.authorLevine, Herbert
dc.contributor.authorRappel, Wouter-Jan
dc.date.accessioned2014-10-08T21:25:34Z
dc.date.available2014-10-08T21:25:34Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.description.abstractA small scratch on the skin can be quite painful. Fortunately, the pain is transitory and dissipates quickly once the wound heals. The healing process is facilitated by neutrophils, a type of white blood cell that removes bacteria and other foreign materials from a wound. Neutrophils normally reside in your circulatory system but, when needed, are able to leave the bloodstream and efficiently navigate through connective tissue to the injured area. How do they figure out where to go? The answer is chemotaxis, the process of cells following chemical gradients. In addition to wound healing, chemotaxis is important to many other biological processes. Chemical information can help sperm find the egg cell during fertilization. In embryonic development, cells are often directed to their proper location through gradients. Chemotaxis can also aid the spread of cancer during metastasis, the process by which cells leave the primary tumor and seed new tumors in other parts of the body. Experiments have shown that gradients of growth factors guide an initial step in the metastatic process; that step involves the movement of malignant cells away from the tumor and toward blood vessels.
dc.identifier.citationLevine, Herbert and Rappel, Wouter-Jan. "The physics of eukaryotic chemotaxis." <i>Physics Today,</i> 66, no. 2 (2013) AIP Publishing LLC: 24-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.1884.
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.1884
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/77450
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherAIP Publishing LLC
dc.rightsArticle is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
dc.titleThe physics of eukaryotic chemotaxis
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.publicationpublisher version
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