Mechanobiology of Collective Cell Migration under Physical Confinements

Cells migrating in sheets or large cohorts tend to behave very differently from cells migrating individually, especially under geometrical or physical constraints and topography. Such distinctive behavior of cells migrating in a collective manner underlies several important biological processes such as wound closure, maintenance of intestinal epithelium, developmental processes and even cancer metastasis. As such, they can also provide important insights towards better tissue repair and regenerative medicine. Here, we obtained biological insights into the kinematic behavior of collectively migrating cell cohorts under a series of well-defined geometrical and physical confinements such as on narrow strips and on out-of-plane curved surfaces.