Garret L. Yount, Ph.D.
Time-lapse microscopy reveals the spontaneous formation of an independent motile microplast (IMMP) from a normal human glial cell (arrow). The IMMP (circle) displays morphological characteristics typical of cell locomotion, including establishment of polarity, extension of lamellipodia, retraction of the trailing edge and changing direction of movement. Also like cells, the IMMP maintains integrity as an intact unit when encountering neighboring cells and is able to re-initiate locomotion after rounding up.
Time-lapse microscopy reveals that gliomas cells (SNB19 GBM) migrating within a complex that includes extracellular matrix macromolecules also spontaneously give rise to IMMPs. As seen under standard culture conditions, lamellar protrusions are able to break away from glioma cell bodies and immediately reorganize into smaller, organized mobile units. The video follows one cell for 72 hours as it undergoes mitosis (double arrows) and one of the daughter cells extends lamellar protrusions (thin arrows) that break away as IMMPs (circles). The IMMPs display morphological characteristics typical of cell locomotion, including the ability to maintain integrity as an intact unit when encountering a neighboring IMMP (open arrow). These data suggest that the propensity of gliomas cells to produce IMMPs does not diminish as the culture conditions more closely approximate in vivo conditions.
Time-lapse video highlights an IMMP that maintains viability and locomotion for approximately 7 hours before apparently being reabsorbed by the parent cell (arrow), which later undergoes mitosis.
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