Cell migration directionality and speed are independently regulated by RasG and Gβ in Dictyostelium cells in electrotaxis.

Motile cells manifest increased migration speed and directionality in gradients of stimuli, including chemoattractants, electrical potential and substratum stiffness. Here, we demonstrate that Dictyostelium cells move directionally in response to an electric field (EF) with specific acceleration/deceleration kinetics of directionality and migration speed. Detailed analyses of the migration kinetics suggest that migration speed and directionality are separately regulated by Gβ and RasG, respectively, in EF-directed cell migration. Cells lacking Gβ, which is essential for all chemotactic responses in Dictyostelium, showed EF-directed cell migration with the same increase in directionality in an EF as wild-type cells. However, these cells failed to show induction of the migration speed upon EF stimulation as much as wild-type cells. Loss of RasG, a key regulator of chemoattractant-directed cell migration, resulted in almost complete loss of directionality, but similar acceleration/deceleration kinetics of migration speed as wild-type cells. These results indicate that Gβ and RasG are required for the induction of migration speed and directionality, respectively, in response to an EF, suggesting separation of migration speed and directionality even with intact feedback loops between mechanical and signaling networks

Resveratrol Prevents High Fluence Red Light-Emitting Diode Reactive Oxygen Species-Mediated Photoinhibition of Human Skin Fibroblast Migration.

BackgroundSkin fibrosis is a significant medical problem that leads to a functional, aesthetic, and psychosocial impact on quality-of-life. Light-emitting diode-generated 633-nm red light (LED-RL) is part of the visible light spectrum that is not known to cause DNA damage and is considered a safe, non-invasive, inexpensive, and portable potential alternative to ultraviolet phototherapy that may change the treatment paradigm of fibrotic skin disease.ObjectiveThe goal of our study was to investigate the how reactive oxygen species (ROS) free radicals generated by high fluence LED-RL inhibit the migration of skin fibroblasts, the main cell type involved in skin fibrosis. Fibroblast migration speed is increased in skin fibrosis, and we studied cellular migration speed of cultured human skin fibroblasts as a surrogate measure of high fluence LED-RL effect on fibroblast function. To ascertain the inhibitory role of LED-RL generated ROS on migration speed, we hypothesized that resveratrol, a potent antioxidant, could prevent the photoinhibitory effects of high fluence LED-RL on fibroblast migration speed.MethodsHigh fluence LED-RL generated ROS were measured by flow cytometry analysis using dihydrorhodamine (DHR). For purposes of comparison, we assessed the effects of ROS generated by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on fibroblast migration speed and the ability of resveratrol, a well known antioxidant, to prevent LED-RL and H2O2 generated ROS-associated changes in fibroblast migration speed. To determine whether resveratrol could prevent the high fluence LED-RL ROS-mediated photoinhibition of human skin fibroblast migration, treated cells were incubated with resveratrol at concentrations of 0.0001% and 0.001% for 24 hours, irradiated with high fluences LED-RL of 480, 640, and 800 J/cm2.ResultsHigh fluence LED-RL increases intracellular fibroblast ROS and decreases fibroblast migration speed. LED-RL at 480, 640 and 800 J/cm2 increased ROS levels to 132.8%, 151.0%, and 158.4% relative to matched controls, respectively. These LED-RL associated increases in ROS were prevented by pretreating cells with 0.0001% or 0.001% resveratrol. Next, we quantified the effect of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-associated ROS on fibroblast migration speed, and found that while H2O2-associated ROS significantly decreased relative fibroblast migration speed, pretreatment with 0.0001% or 0.001% resveratrol significantly prevented the decreases in migration speed. Furthermore, we found that LED-RL at 480, 640 and 800 J/cm2 decreased fibroblast migration speed to 83.0%, 74.4%, and 68.6% relative to matched controls, respectively. We hypothesized that these decreases in fibroblast migration speed were due to associated increases in ROS generation. Pretreatment with 0.0001% and 0.001% resveratrol prevented the LED-RL associated decreases in migration speed.ConclusionHigh fluence LED-RL increases ROS and is associated with decreased fibroblast migration speed. We provide mechanistic support that the decreased migration speed associated with high fluence LED-RL is mediated by ROS, by demonstrating that resveratrol prevents high fluence LED-RL associated migration speed change. These data lend support to an increasing scientific body of evidence that high fluence LED-RL has anti-fibrotic properties. We hypothesize that our findings may result in a greater understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying visible light interaction with skin and we anticipate clinicians and other researchers may utilize these pathways for patient benefit

Speed limit on Neptune migration imposed by Saturn tilting

In this Letter, we give new constraints on planet migration. They were obtained under the assumption that Saturn's current obliquity is due to a capture in resonance with Neptune's ascending node. If planet migration is too fast, then Saturn crosses the resonance without being captured and it keeps a small obliquity. This scenario thus gives a lower limit on the migration time scale tau. We found that this boundary depends strongly on Neptune's initial inclination. For two different migration types, we found that tau should be at least greater than 7 Myr. This limit increases rapidly as Neptune's initial inclination decreases from 10 to 1 degree. We also give an algorithm to know if Saturn can be tilted for any migration law.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, published in ApJ

Modeling emergent tissue organization involving high-speed migrating cells in a flow equilibrium

There is increasing interest in the analysis of biological tissue, its organization and its dynamics with the help of mathematical models. In the ideal case emergent properties on the tissue scale can be derived from the cellular scale. However, this has been achieved in rare examples only, in particular, when involving high-speed migration of cells. One major difficulty is the lack of a suitable multiscale simulation platform, which embeds reaction-diffusion of soluble substances, fast cell migration and mechanics, and, being of great importance in several tissue types, cell flow homeostasis. In this paper a step into this direction is presented by developing an agent-based mathematical model specifically designed to incorporate these features with special emphasis on high speed cell migration. Cells are represented as elastic spheres migrating on a substrate in lattice-free space. Their movement is regulated and guided by chemoattractants that can be derived from the substrate. The diffusion of chemoattractants is considered to be slower than cell migration and, thus, to be far from equilibrium. Tissue homeostasis is not achieved by the balance of growth and death but by a flow equilibrium of cells migrating in and out of the tissue under consideration. In this sense the number and the distribution of the cells in the tissue is a result of the model and not part of the assumptions. For purpose of demonstration of the model properties and functioning, the model is applied to a prominent example of tissue in a cellular flow equilibrium, the secondary lymphoid tissue. The experimental data on cell speed distributions in these tissues can be reproduced using reasonable mechanical parameters for the simulated cell migration in dense tissue.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures v2 major conceptual changes: stronger focus on model architecture; new Fig 6, fitting of migration parameters; reduced Fig 7 (formerly Fig 6), shortened presentation of the application; equation (3) provided in more detail; Fig 5 extende

Thermocapillary migration of a droplet with a thermal source at large Reynolds and Marangoni numbers

The {\it unsteady} process for thermocapillary droplet migration at large Reynolds and Marangoni numbers has been previously reported by identifying a nonconservative integral thermal flux across the surface in the {\it steady} thermocapillary droplet migration, [Wu and Hu, J. Math. Phys. {\bf 54} 023102, (2013)]. Here we add a thermal source in the droplet to preserve the integral thermal flux across the surface as conservative, so that thermocapillary droplet migration at large Reynolds and Marangoni numbers can reach a {\it quasi-steady} process. Under assumptions of {\it quasi-steady} state and non-deformation of the droplet, we make an analytical result for the {\it steady} thermocapillary migration of droplet with the thermal source at large Reynolds and Marangoni numbers. The result shows that the thermocapillary droplet migration speed slowly increases with the increase of Marangoni number.Comment: 3 figure

The effect of planetary migration on the corotation resonance

The migration of a planet through a gaseous disc causes the locations of their resonant interactions to drift and can alter the torques exerted between the planet and the disc. We analyse the time-dependent dynamics of a non-coorbital corotation resonance under these circumstances. The ratio of the resonant torque in a steady state to the value given by Goldreich & Tremaine (1979) depends essentially on two dimensionless quantities: a dimensionless turbulent diffusion time-scale and a dimensionless radial drift speed. When the drift speed is comparable to the libration speed and the viscosity is small, the torque can become much larger than the unsaturated value in the absence of migration, but is still proportional to the large-scale vortensity gradient in the disc. Fluid that is trapped in the resonance and drifts with it acquires a vortensity anomaly relative to its surroundings. If the anomaly is limited by viscous diffusion in a steady state, the resulting torque is inversely proportional to the viscosity, although a long time may be required to achieve this state. A further, viscosity-independent, contribution to the torque comes from fluid that streams through the resonant region. In other cases, torque oscillations occur before the steady value is achieved. We discuss the significance of these results for the evolution of eccentricity in protoplanetary systems. We also describe the possible application of these findings to the coorbital region and the concept of runaway (or type III) migration. [Abridged]Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, to be published in MNRA

Does Internal Migration Lead to Faster Regional Convergence in Turkey? An Empirical Investigation

In this study, we examine whether internal migration in the last 30 years in Turkey has had any effect on the speed of convergence across Turkish provinces. According to our results, contrary to the predictions of the standard neoclassical theory, for 1975-2000,internal migration is not conducive to faster convergence across provinces in Turkey. One probable reason is that marginal returns to capital in most net outmigration provinces and regions are relatively lower than those in the net in-migration provinces and regions in Turkey. Accordingly, the incentives to invest in capital in net-out migration regions may well be less than those in the net in-migration regions.Faced with lower investment in gross capital formation, and thus lower economic growth, net out-migration provinces and regions may not benefit from out-migration in terms of convergence in per capita income.

Diffusion at constant speed in a model phase space

We reconsider the problem of diffusion of particles at constant speed and present a generalization of the Telegrapher process to higher dimensional stochastic media ($d>1$), where the particle can move along $2^d$ directions. We derive the equations for the probability density function using the ``formulae of differentiation'' of Shapiro and Loginov. The model is an advancement over similiar models of photon migration in multiply scattering media in that it results in a true diffusion at constant speed in the limit of large dimensions.Comment: Final corrected version RevTeX, 6 pages, 1 figur

Evidence of the selection of tidal streams by northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra) for transport in the eastern Bering Sea

Depth data from archival tags on northern rock sole (Lepidopsetta polyxystra) were examined to assess whether fish used tidal currents to aid horizontal migration. Two northern rock sole, out of 115 released with archival tags in the eastern Bering Sea, were recovered 314 and 667 days after release. Both fish made periodic excursions away from the bottom during mostly night-time hours, but also during particular phases of the tide cycle. One fish that was captured and released in an area of rotary currents made vertical excursions that were correlated with tidal current direction. To test the hypothesis that the fish made vertical excursions to use tidal currents to aid migration, a hypothetical migratory path was calculated using a tide model to predict the current direction and speed during periods when the fish was off the bottom. This migration included limited movements from July through December, followed by a 200-km southern migration from January through February, then a return northward in March and April. The successful application of tidal current information to predict a horizontal migratory path not only provides evidence of selective tidal stream transport but indicates that vertical excursions were conducted primarily to assist horizontal migration