human mammary epithelial cells exhibit a bimodal correlated random walk pattern人类乳腺上皮细胞表现出双峰相关随机游走模式.pdfVIP

Human Mammary Epithelial Cells Exhibit a Bimodal Correlated Random Walk Pattern Alka A. Potdar1,2, Junhwan Jeon1,2, Alissa M. Weaver2,3, Vito Quaranta2,3, Peter T. Cummings 1,2,4* 1 Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America, 2 Vanderbilt Integrative Cancer Biology Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America, 3 Department of Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America, 4 Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States of America Abstract Background: Organisms, at scales ranging from unicellular to mammals, have been known to exhibit foraging behavior ´ described by random walks whose segments confirm to Levy or exponential distributions. For the first time, we present evidence that single cells (mammary epithelial cells) that exist in multi-cellular organisms (humans) follow a bimodal correlated random walk (BCRW). Methodology/Principal Findings: Cellular tracks of MCF-10A pBabe, neuN and neuT random migration on 2-D plastic substrates, analyzed using bimodal analysis, were found to reveal the BCRW pattern. We find two types of exponentially distributed correlated flights (corresponding to what we refer to as the directional and re-orientation phases) each having its own correlation between move step-lengths within flights. The exponential distribution of flight lengths was confirmed using different analysis methods (logarithmic binning with normalization, survival frequency plots and maximum likelihood estimation). Conclusions/Significance: Because of the presence of non-uniform turn angle distribution of move step-lengths within a flight