Models of Galvanotaxis: Coupling Cell Migration and Shape

Eukaryotic cells can undergo galvanotaxis, which involves cells crawling to follow an electrical potential gradient. This occurs naturally during wound healing, when electrical fields guide the cells towards the wound. Keratocytes are prevalent during wound healing and are used as a model system for studying galvanotaxis. However, galvanotaxis is not as well studied. For instance, the specific proteins that allow electric field sensing and much of the pathway for responding to the electric field remain unknown. It is not well understood what cellular features control keratocyte behavior during galvanotaxis and how quickly cells can respond to changes in gradients. In addition to persistent crawling, keratocytes may exhibit oscillatory and circular motion both with and without a field present. We have developed a coarse-grained phenomenological model that can qualitatively recapitulate crawling, oscillatory, and circular motion with and without a field present. We can fit this model to experimental data on the response of keratocytes to a field turning on and off. Key parameters in controlling cell motion include the strength of coupling between shape and velocity and the rate at which the cell repolarizes in response to a signal.