Microglia are resident macrophage cells in the central nervous system that search for pathogens or abnormal neural activities and migrate to resolve the issues. Tracking their migration quantitatively, we discovered that microglia migrate with run-and-tumble dynamics — a strategy long thought to be unique to bacteria — with runs of persistent motion interrupted by turning events. When the substrate is mechanically stretched, the cells bias their turning toward the stretch direction, revealing a mechanotactic response. Published in Research 6: 0063 (2023): Run-and-Tumble Dynamics and Mechanotaxis Discovered in Microglial Migration

Adherent cells display two modes during migration: a faster mode persistent in direction and a slower one where they turn. We developed a simple protocol to isolate the turns quantitatively. Across different adherent cells in different morphological states, turning cells behave as rotors with constant turning rates but random turning directions (figure above: migration direction during turns, turning-rate distributions, and angular correlations). To perform tactic motion, the cells bias the sign of turning towards the stimuli. In contrast to the widely assumed rotational-diffusion picture, turns are governed by a deterministic angular velocity. Published in Physical Review Research 7: 023122 (2025): Coherent turning behaviors revealed across adherent cells