Cell Migration in Development
How cells move — individually or in groups — to reach their destinations and build tissues, guided by chemical and physical cues.
Definition
Cell migration in development is the regulated, directional movement of cells from where they are born to where they will function, an essential mechanism for assembling tissues and distributing cell types throughout the embryo.
Scope
This topic covers directed cell migration during development, including the migration of neural crest cells, primordial germ cells, and the collective movements that shape tissues. It treats the guidance cues (chemoattractants, repellents, and substrate signals), the cell-biological machinery of motility, and the difference between single-cell and collective migration.
Core questions
- How do migrating cells know which way to go?
- What cellular machinery powers directed movement?
- How do cells migrate as coordinated groups rather than individuals?
- How are migrating cells told when to stop and settle?
Key concepts
- Chemoattraction and chemorepulsion
- Neural crest cell migration
- Primordial germ cell migration
- Collective versus single-cell migration
- Cell–substrate and cell–cell adhesion in motility
Mechanisms
Migrating cells extend protrusions, form adhesions to the extracellular matrix or to neighbours, and generate traction through the actin cytoskeleton to move forward, retracting trailing adhesions as they go. Direction is set by guidance cues: gradients of attractant or repellent signals, contact-mediated signals, and properties of the substrate along which cells travel. The neural crest, a population that delaminates from the developing nervous system, migrates extensively to form structures from pigment cells to parts of the face. Germ cells migrate to the gonads, and many tissues form through collective migration in which cells move as cohesive sheets or chains, maintaining contacts while responding together to guidance signals.
Clinical relevance
Errors in developmental migration contribute to conditions such as neural crest disorders and misplaced tissues, and the same motility mechanisms are central to immune function and cancer metastasis. This entry is educational and not clinical guidance.
History
The migratory behaviour of cells such as the neural crest was documented by classical embryologists using labelling and grafting; later molecular work identified the guidance cues and cytoskeletal machinery that direct and power these movements.
Related topics
Seminal works
- gilbert2016
Frequently asked questions
- How do cells find their way during development?
- They follow guidance cues — gradients of attractant or repellent molecules and signals from the surfaces they crawl along — that steer their movement toward the correct destination.
- What is the neural crest?
- It is a migratory cell population that leaves the developing nervous system and travels widely, giving rise to diverse structures including pigment cells, nerves, and parts of the face and skull.