The SOCE system is critical for membrane bleb formation to drive avian primordial germ cell migration

Abstract

Amoeboid cell migration is driven by the specialized cell protrusion, membrane bleb. A recent in vitro analysis of bleb formation using a cancer cell line showed that store-operated calcium entry (SOCE)-mediated local elevation of Ca2+ concentration triggers bleb formation, but it remains unknown how commonly this system is utilized in the bleb formation and bleb-driven cell migration in vivo. We demonstrate with avian primordial germ cell (PGC) model that that chick PGCs use SOCE, triggered by stem cell factor (SCF), to induce bleb formation and that it is essential for in vivo migration including trans-endothelial and mesenchymal cell migration. Our discovery also provides insight into the correlation between cancer metastasis/invasion and SOCE-mediated bleb formation.