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Uncoordinated protein coordinates cell migration

Mounting evidence suggests that developing neurons and metastatic cancer cells migrate through similar mechanisms. Characterization of a previously unknown complex involved in cell migration confirms this idea.
  1. Alain Chédotal

    1. Alain Chédotal is at the Vision Institute, Sorbonne University, INSERM, CNRS, 75012 Paris, France.

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During development, many cell types — including neurons — migrate in and across organs to reach the position they will occupy for the remainder of their lives. Similarly, in cancers, metastatic cells escape tumours and disperse around the body. Three decades of research have shown that cell migration is not random. Instead, the cell’s motility, its orientation and whether it leaves or settles in a specific location are influenced and guided by molecular signals from neighbouring and, sometimes, distant cells1. Several families of cell-guidance molecules have been identified2, but how they interact to coordinate cell movements is not well defined. Writing in Cell, Akkermans et al.3 add to this picture through the characterization of a molecular complex that controls neuronal and metastatic cell migration.

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Nature 612, 38-39 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-03732-2

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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