Collective directional memory controls the range of epithelial cell migration

Isolated persistent random-walker epithelial cells become superdiffusive in an epithelium, reaching greater distances than isolated cells, with directional memory stronger than external guidance cues.

• Why it matters: Cell–cell interactions in tissues may change how epithelial cells explore space and respond to guidance, but the mechanisms linking collective behavior to guidance sensitivity were unclear.
• What they did: The study models isolated cells as persistent random walkers and analyzes collective motion as fractional Brownian motion, attributing directional memory to velocity coordination between neighbors with intact cytoskeletal connections to intercellular adhesion complexes.
• The result: Adhesion-complex stability and mechanosensitivity regulate collective migration speed and guidance sensitivity via vinculin dimerization, defining spatial exploration efficiency across short, intermediate, and long time scales.