Critical role of lipid membranes in polarization and migration of cells: a biophysical view

Cell migration plays vital roles in many biologically relevant processes such as tissue morphogenesis and cancer metastasis, and it has fascinated biophysicists over the past several decades. However, despite an increasing number of studies highlighting the orchestration of proteins involved in different signaling pathways, the functional roles of lipid membranes have been essentially overlooked. Lipid membranes are generally considered to be a functionless two-dimensional matrix of proteins, although many proteins regulating cell migration gain functions only after they are recruited to the membrane surface and self-organize their functional domains. In this review, we summarize how the logistical recruitment and release of proteins to and from lipid membranes coordinates complex spatiotemporal molecular processes. As predicted from the classical framework of the Smoluchowski equation of diffusion, lipid/protein membranes serve as a 2D reaction hub that contributes to the effective and robust regulation of polarization and migration of cells involving several competing pathways.