Delivered by Prof. Kathryn Boor, Dean of the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences during the symposium on "Philippine Rural Development and Cornell, November 16, 2012 at SEARCA, UPLB, College, Laguna
The mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix are known to regulate the migration of single cells, but whether substrate stiffness also affects collective cell migration is unclear. Ng et al. reveal that epithelial sheets move faster on stiffer matrices due to increased myosin contractility and mechanical coupling through cell-cell adhesions. This biosights episode presents the paper by Ng et al. from the October 29, 2012, issue of The Journal of Cell Biology and includes an...