Effect of Direct Current Electric Field Stimulation on Cell Pseudopods of Dictyostelium discoideum
DING Xue, FU Yujia, SHI Limin, CHEN Xiaobo, GAO Runchi*
The directional movement of cells affected by a variety of extracellular signals is very impor tant for many major physiological and pathological processes of multicellular organisms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of direct current electric field stimulation on the pseudopod formation and dynamic behavior of model organism Dictyostelium discoideum. DC electric fields with different intensities were applied to Dictyostelium discoideum cells with different degrees of polarization. ImageJ/Quimp3 software was used to quan titatively analyze the electrotaxis of cells, the number, type, spatial distribution of pseudopods, and the extension angle of new pseudopods. It showed that the motility of Dictyostelium discoideum cells was anodely correlated with the degree of polarization induced by cell starvation and the intensity of exogenous DC electric field. DC electric f ield stimulation does not change the number and type of pseudopods, but it can make the pseudopods of the cells have asymmetric spatial distribution, at the same time, it will increase the extension rate of the pseudopods. Cell polarization is the basis of cell movement, and the directional movement of cells guided by DC electric field stimu lation may be related to the extension angle of new pseudopods. This study can provide a theoretical reference for the treatment of diseases caused by cell directional movement defects by using pseudopod formation.
CN
EN