Motile cells have developed a variety of migration modes relying on diverse traction-force-generation mechanisms. Before the behavior of intracellular components could be easily imaged, cell movements were mostly classified by different types of cellular shape dynamics. Indeed, even though some types of cells move without any significant change in shape, most cell propulsion mechanisms rely on global or local deformations of the cell surface. In this review, focusing mostly on metazoan cells, we discuss how different types of local and global shape changes underlie distinct migration modes. We then discuss mechanical differences between force-generation mechanisms and finish by speculating on how they may have evolved.

运动细胞已依赖多种牵引力产生机制发展出多种迁移模式。在细胞内成分的行为可以容易地成像之前，细胞运动主要通过不同类型的细胞形态动力学进行分类。确实，即使某些类型的细胞运动时形状没有任何显着变化，但大多数细胞推进机制仍依赖于细胞表面的整体或局部变形。在这篇综述中，我们主要关注后生细胞，我们讨论了不同类型的局部和全局形状变化是如何构成独特的迁移模式的。然后，我们通过推测力产生机制的演变方式来讨论力产生机制与完成之间的机械差异。