Science signaling podcast: 26 May 2015

This Podcast features an interview with Min Zhao and Peter Devreotes, authors of a Research Article that appears in the 26 May 2015 issue of Science Signaling, about how cells migrate along an electrical gradient. Chemotaxis is the process by which cells move along a gradient of chemical cues. Cells can also be guided by electrical fields through a process called electrotaxis, also known as galvanotaxis. Whereas much is known about how cells sense and respond to chemical cues during chemotaxis, less is known about how cells sense and respond to electrical gradients. Electrical gradients are present in many tissues, and accumulating evidence indicates that electric fields are important for guiding cells during wound healing and regeneration. Gao et al. used a highthroughput screening technique to identify genes required for electrotaxis in the slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum, which is a model that is often used to study chemotaxis. The screen revealed that chemotaxis and electrotaxis share many of the same protein mediators, including components of the target of rapamycin complex 2 (TORC2) and phosphoinositide 3kinase (PI3K) signaling pathways.