Much of current understanding of cell motility arose from studying steady treadmilling of actin
arrays. Recently, there have been a growing number of observations of a more complex …

Dictyostelium amoebae adhere to extracellular material using similar mechanisms to
metazoan cells. Notably, the cellular anchorage loci in Amoebozoa and Metazoa are both …

Spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae are human pathogens that infect cells in the
vasculature. They disseminate through host tissues by a process of cell-to-cell spread that …

Perturbed biomechanical stimuli are thought to be critical for the pathogenesis of a number
of congenital heart defects, including Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). While …

Chemotaxing Dictyostelium discoideum cells adapt their morphology and migration speed in
response to intrinsic and extrinsic cues. Using Fourier traction force microscopy, we …

Fast amoeboid migration requires cells to apply mechanical forces on their surroundings via
transient adhesions. However, the role these forces play in controlling cell migration speed …

Extracellular matrix stiffness (ECM) is one of the many mechanical forces acting on
mammalian adherent cells and an important determinant of cellular function. While the effect …

The aim of this work is to quantify the spatio-temporal dynamics of flow-driven amoeboid
locomotion in small (∼ 100 μm) fragments of the true slime mold Physarum polycephalum …

For directional movement, eukaryotic cells depend on the proper organization of their actin
cytoskeleton. This engine of motility is made up of highly dynamic nonequilibrium actin …

Cells employing amoeboid motility exhibit repetitive cycles of rapid expansion and
contraction and apply coordinated traction forces to their environment. Although aspects of …