Modeling and Simulation Group Meeting

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Electric fields guide cell migration

Speaker: Alex Mogilner, New York University

Location: Warren Weaver Hall 517

Date: Thursday, March 5, 2026, 12:30 p.m.

Synopsis:

Galvanotaxis - ability of live cells to orient themselves in electric fields (EF) - is a well-known, yet under-studied, phenomenon that is crucial for wound healing, immune response and cancer spread. The cells sense the EF like this: certain negatively charged proteins on the cell surface are pulled by the Coulomb force to the anodal side of the cell where these  proteins trigger signaling pathways regulating cell motility. We recently made a surprising experimental discovery that migrating cells can move to either cathode or anode depending on their chemical state. Moreover, some cells move to anode when migrating alone, but to cathode when migrating in groups.

To understand these behaviors, we developed a mathematical model, in which the cell is a free-boundary object, shape and movements of which are governed by a reaction-diffusion-drift biochemical system. I will discuss this free-boundary problem, its analysis and simulation results, and implications for the biological system.