How cells and tissues migrate from one location to another is a question of significant biological and medical relevance. Migration is generally thought to be controlled by external hardwired guidance cues, which cells follow by polarizing their internal locomotory machinery in the imposed direction. However, a number of recently discovered 'self-guidance' mechanisms have revealed that migrating cells have more control over the path they follow than previously thought. Here, directional information is generated by the migrating cells themselves via a dynamic interplay of cell-intrinsic and -extrinsic regulators. In this review, we discuss how self-guidance can emerge from mechanisms acting at different levels of scale and how these enable cells to rapidly adapt to environmental challenges.

中文翻译：

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走自己的路：细胞迁移中的自我引导机制。

细胞和组织如何从一个位置迁移到另一个位置是一个具有重要生物学和医学相关性的问题。迁移通常被认为是由外部硬连线引导线索控制的，这些细胞通过在施加的方向上极化其内部运动机器来遵循这些线索。然而，最近发现的一些“自我引导”机制表明，迁移细胞对它们所遵循的路径的控制比以前想象的要多。在这里，方向信息是由迁移细胞本身通过细胞内在和外在调节器的动态相互作用产生的。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了如何从不同规模的机制中产生自我指导，以及这些机制如何使细胞能够快速适应环境挑战。