A migrating leukocyte gets its rear in gear by shifting mitochondia (red) to its back end.

Migrating leukocytes are “rear-wheel drive cells,” says Antonella Viola. Her group finds that mitochondria, the cell's engines, shift to the back of neutrophils to power cell movement, as revealed in Campello et al. (page 2879).

Mitochondria can accumulate in regions of the cell with high energy demands, such as at the active growth cones of developing neurons and at the neuromuscular synapse. Viola and her team wondered whether mitochondria might also adopt a specific intracellular location in migrating cells. Leukocytes migrate to immunological battlegrounds in response to chemokines, and the team now shows that, in vitro, this chemotaxis is coupled with movement of mitochondria to the rear of the cell, known as the uropod.

Although the leading edge of the leukocyte sends out exploratory protrusions as these cells...

The Rockefeller University Press
2006
The Rockefeller University Press
2006
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