Cell Migration into a Wounded Area In Vitro

In vitro wound healing is a complex phenomenon in which cells mechanically released from tight confluence migrate in an oriented fashion to an area made free of cells (1 ). Moreover, beyond migrating, cells at the advancing border often re-enter the cell cycle (2 –4 ). In the perspective of adhesion molecules, the process involves remodeling of the cellular adhesive interactions both with the adjoning cells and with the extracellular matrix. Therefore, aspects of cell physiology related to the molecules controlling adhesion to neighboring cells (5 –7 ) and to substrate (8 ), to components of the cytoskeleton (9 –12 ), as well as to extracellular matrix remodeling (13 –15 ) can be studied during the transition from the resting to the migratory/proliferative phenotype.