Figure 5.

Nonmonotonic relationship between the migration speed and cell tension under random internal noise. (a) The average speed of polarized cells as a function of initial line tension σ within the range of [0.005–0.015 pN/μm] is shown. Error bars represent the standard errors of the average speed under sample size N = 20. (b) The average speed of polarized cells as a function of initial line tension σ within the range of [0.2–0.8 pN/μm] is shown. Because only a fraction of the cells are polarized (Fig. 1d), the data for the average speed is recorded only from those polarized cells. Error bars represent standard errors. (c) A hypothetical curve regarding migration speed and cell tension is given. The black arrows indicate the tendency of migration speed. Points A–D are four representative phases of the tension regulation. Point A is the initial cell shape, and B–D stand for different cell morphologies under different cell tensions. To see this figure in color, go online.