Figure 1.

Four dynamic states and two motion directions form the multistability of MDA-MB-231 cells on homogeneous fibronectin lanes. (A) Kymograph from a typical 48-h trajectory. (B) A spread (S) cell with steady length (S). We call this state SS. (C) A spread cell with oscillatory length (O). We call this state SO. (D) A moving cell (M) with steady length: state MS. (E) A moving cell with oscillating length: state MO. (F) Transition from a downward-moving MS state to an upward-moving MS state. (G–K) The cells undergo an MS $\to$ SS (G), MS $\to$ MO (H), SO $\to$ MS (I), MO $\to$ SS (J), and SO $\to$ SS (K) transition. Vertical orange lines indicate the point in time of the state transitions as determined by the change point algorithm described in section S2. All kymographs are shown with a time resolution of 30 s. Time goes from left to right. The vertical scale bars represent 100 μm, the horizontal scale bars 60 min. The scale bars in (B) apply to (B–E), and the scale bars in (F) apply to (F–K). The movies corresponding to kymographs (A–F) can be found in the supporting material. To see this figure in color, go online.