Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41632822›Full record

ArticlePLoS computational biology2026

Modelling chemotaxis of branched cells in complex environments provides insights into immune cell navigation.

Jiayi Liu, Jonathan E Ron, Giulia Rinaldi, Ivanna Williantarra, Antonios Georgantzoglou, Ingrid de Vries, Michael Sixt, Milka Sarris, Nir S Gov

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS computational biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Jiayi LiuDepartment of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1432-376X
Jonathan E RonDepartment of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
Giulia RinaldiDepartment of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, Downing Site, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Ivanna WilliantarraDepartment of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, Downing Site, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8127-557X
Antonios GeorgantzoglouDepartment of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, Downing Site, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4418-8749
Ingrid de VriesInstitute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Klosterneuburg, Austria.
Michael SixtInstitute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), Klosterneuburg, Austria.
Milka SarrisDepartment of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, Downing Site, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Nir S GovDepartment of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7774-1139

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cell migration in vivo is often guided by chemical signaling, i.e., chemotaxis. For immune cells performing chemotaxis in the organism, this process is influenced by the complex geometry of the tissue environment. In this study, we use a theoretical model of branched cell migration on a network to explore the cellular response to chemical gradients. The model predicts the response of a branched cell to a chemical gradient: how the cell reorients its internal polarity and how it navigates through a complex environment up a chemical gradient. We then compare the model's predictions with experimental observations of neutrophils migrating to the site of a laser-inflicted wound in a zebrafish larva fin, and neutrophils migrating in vitro inside a regular lattice of pillars. We find that the model captures the details of the subcellular response to the chemokine gradient, as well as qualitative characteristics of the large-scale migration, suggesting that the neutrophils behave as fast cells, which explains the functionality of these immune cells.

Indexed as

ChemotaxisModels, BiologicalNeutrophilsAnimalsCell MovementChemokinesComputational BiologyZebrafishChemokines

Identifiers

PMID41632822
PMCPMC12880755

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.