This book vividly describes how complex and integrated movements can arise from the properties and behaviors of biological molecules. It provides a uniquely integrated account in which the latest findings from biophysics and molecular biology are put into the context of living cells. This second edition is updated throughout with recent advances in the field and has a completely revised and redrawn art program. The text is suitable for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and for professionals wishing for an overview of this field.

This book contains a collection of original research articles and review articles that describe novel mathematical modeling techniques and the application of those techniques to models of cell motility in a variety of contexts. The aim is to highlight some of the recent mathematical work geared at understanding the coordination of intracellular processes involved in the movement of cells. This collection will benefit researchers interested in cell motility as well graduate students taking a topics course in this area.

This book surveys the most recent advances in physics-inspired cell movement models. This synergetic, cross-disciplinary effort to increase the fidelity of computational algorithms will lead to a better understanding of the complex biomechanics of cell movement, and stimulate progress in research on related active matter systems, from suspensions of bacteria and synthetic swimmers to cell tissues and cytoskeleton.Cell motility and collective motion are among the most important themes in biology and statistical physics of out-of-equilibrium systems, and crucial for morphogenesis, wound healing, and immune response in eukaryotic organisms. It is also relevant for the development of effective treatment strategies for diseases such as cancer, and for the design of bioactive surfaces for cell sorting and manipulation. Substrate-based cell motility is, however, a very complex process as regulatory pathways and physical force generation mechanisms are intertwined. To understand the interplay between adhesion, force generation and motility, an abundance of computational models have been proposed in recent years, from finite element to immerse interface methods and phase field approaches.This book is primarily written for physicists, mathematical biologists and biomedical engineers working in this rapidly expanding field, and can serve as supplementary reading for advanced graduate courses in biophysics and mathematical biology. The e-book incorporates experimental and computer animations illustrating various aspects of cell movement./div

A pedagogical review of the mathematical modelling in fluid dynamics necessary to understand the motility of most microorganisms on Earth.

Viscoelasticity and Collective Cell Migration: An Interdisciplinary Perspective Across Levels of Organization focuses on the main viscoelastic parameters formulated based on multiscale constitutive modeling and how to measure these rheological parameters based on existent micro-devices such as micro-rheology and micro-elastography. The book sheds light on inter-relationships across viscoelasticity scales, an essential step for understanding various biomedical processes such as morphogenesis, wound healing and cancers invasion. Cumulative effects of structural changes at subcellular and cellular levels influence viscoelasticity at a supracellular level are also covered, providing valuable insights for biologists, physicists, engineers, students and researchers in the field of developmental biology. As this is a complex multidisciplinary field, perspectives are included from experts in biology, biochemistry, biomedicine, biophysics and biorheology. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics that represent challenges and the necessity for further development in the field. - Discusses the biological/biochemical mechanisms of collective cell migration - Covers the inter-relation between collective cell migration and viscoelasticity by proposing rheological parameters - Contains critical consideration of various experimental techniques that are suitable to measure these parameters

Cell migration is a highly complex process which involves several compartments of the cell, including surface receptors, signalling elements and the cytoskeleton. It plays an essential role in embryogenesis, wound healing and inflammatory responses, and a dysregulation of cell movement can cause pathological states such as developmental defects, chronic inflammation, cancer invasion and metastasis. Covering extracellular regulatory signals and intracellular signal transduction pathways as well as the molecular mechanisms of migration in stem cells, leukocytes and tumor cells in the adult human organism, this book summarizes the current state of knowledge about cell migration. In the first part, the major aspects of different migratory cells in health and disease are covered, with special emphasis on T lymphocytes. The second part provides a comprehensive overview of the principal molecular mechanisms of migration such as adhesion receptors, cytoskeletal rearrangements and locomotor force generation, which, together, can be referred to as a cell's 'migrosome'.With contributions by eminent international scientists from different disciplines this book will serve as a valuable resource not only for researchers in cell biology, immunology and oncology, but also for clinicians who wish to learn more about the role of migratory processes in health and disease.