P. Thomason

How Should Eukaryotic Chemotaxis be Measured?

The paper identifies reliable measures of chemotactic steering and migration, highlights issues with existing metrics, and provides tools to implement these methods.

Competition between chemoattractants causes unexpected complexity and can explain negative chemotaxis

The paper shows that competition between chemoattractants can cause complex migration patterns and explain negative chemotaxis in Dictyostelium cells.

Extracellular signalling modulates Scar/WAVE complex activity through Abi phosphorylation

This study shows that extracellular signals modulate Scar/WAVE complex activity through Abi phosphorylation, affecting pseudopodia dynamics and cell migration.

Seeing around corners: Cells create chemotactic gradients to solve mazes and respond to distant cues in complex environments.

The paper shows cells use self-generated chemotactic gradients to navigate complex environments and solve mazes, with accuracy influenced by path complexity, attractant diffusibility, and cell speed.

Cell-substrate adhesion drives Scar/WAVE activation and phosphorylation, which controls pseudopod lifetime

The paper shows that cell-substrate adhesion drives Scar/WAVE phosphorylation, which limits pseudopod lifetime, independent of chemotactic signals.

LPP3 mediates self-generation of chemotactic LPA gradients by melanoma cells

The paper shows that LPP3 is essential for melanoma cells to break down LPA, enabling self-generated chemotaxis and invasion.