First published online November 10, 2003
Influences of thermal acclimation and acute temperature change on the motility of epithelial wound-healing cells (keratocytes) of tropical, temperate and Antarctic fish
Rachael A. Ream1,
Julie A. Theriot1 and
George N. Somero2,*
1 Biochemistry Department, Beckman Center, Room 473A, Stanford University
School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5307, USA
2 Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA

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Fig. 1. Phase-contrast images of keratocytes from G. mirabilis display the
range of variation observed in keratocyte morphology. Morphological features
include: (A) stereotypical `canoe shape', (B) small ruffling at the leading
edge, (C) ruffling at the edges of the cell and (D) large, phase-dense ruffles
in the forward third of the lamellipodium. Scale bar, 10 µm.
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Fig. 2. Time-lapse picture of crawling keratocyte cultured from G.
mirabilis at 2(40x). Scale bar, 15 µm. Images were taken 30 s
apart.
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Fig. 3. The velocity of each cell was analyzed in regard to speed and trajectory.
Examples show four types of analysis for four cells cultured from G.
mirabilis, two moving in straight lines and two moving in circles: (A) a
trajectory plot of (x,y) coordinates of the positions of four cells
over 20 min, beginning at the origin and rotated such that the first step is
along the y-axis (x=0); (B) speed histograms of the
frequency of instantaneous cell speeds; (C) autocorrelation analysis of cell
speed shows memory (correlation) and oscillation; and (D) cosine analysis
shows the magnitude of turning angles ( ) made by the cell over
time.
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Fig. 4. The mean cell speed ± S.D. for 20 cells at each
experimental temperature. Cells cultured from a thermal acclimation group
denoted by an asterisk move at a mean speed significantly different from the
cells of other thermal acclimations at that experimental temperature. (A)
Keratocytes from G. mirabilis acclimated to 10°C (blue), 16°C
(black) and 25°C (red); (B) keratocytes from C. salinus
acclimated to 26°C (blue) and 35°C (red); (C) keratocytes from A.
percula acclimated to 26°C (black); and (D) keratocytes from T.
bernacchii acclimated to -1.86°C (blue; inset) and 5°C (red; main
figure) move at speeds 10-100x slower than other cells. (E-H) Arrhenius
plots of 1000/T vs. ln(speed) for cells cultured from G.
mirabilis (E), C. salinus (F), A. percula (G) and
T. bernacchii (H). Acclimation groups are delineated by the
corresponding color codes in panels A-D.
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Fig. 5. Mean keratocyte speed as a function of experimental temperature. Speed is
conserved at physiological temperatures for the three non-Antarctic species,
as indicated by the zone bounded by the two horizontal lines.
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Fig. 6. Cell centroid positions were tracked over a total time of 15 min at 15 s
intervals for 20-21 cells at each experimental condition. For population
comparisons, each cell's path was plotted as a separate colored line beginning
at the origin and reoriented so that the first segment of any trajectory is
along the y-axis (x=0). Trajectories of each cell measured
are shown at 10°C and 20°C for all acclimation groups of all species.
Systematic variations in both speed and turning behavior are apparent.
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Fig. 7. Cos ( ) versus path length is plotted at 10°C and
20°C for cells from each species at each thermal acclimation. As turning
magnitude increases, cosine values begin to approach zero. (A) Keratocytes
from G. mirabilis acclimated to 10°C (blue), 16°C (black) and
25°C (red); (B) keratocytes from C. salinus acclimated to
26°C (blue) and 35°C (red); (C) keratocytes from A. percula
acclimated to 26°C (black); and (D) keratocytes from T.
bernacchii acclimated to -1.86°C (black) and 4°C (red).
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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2003