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Anticipation of periodic events influences cell motility in amoeba proteus

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Abstract

All migrating cells (both single-cell organisms and as part of multicellular organisms) sense environmental conditions and respond to physical and molecular cues by changing the direction and speed of cellular movement. Adaptive behaviors enable motile cells to thrive in dynamic environments. A study with slime mold suggested an ability to anticipate dry and cold periods. However, experimental evidence for anticipation in other single-cell organisms is lacking. Here, we investigated whether Amoeba proteus can anticipate unfavourable periodic stimuli. Amoeba proteus react to blue light (405 nm) by reducing their streaming speed in response to each stimulation. As expected, after four periodic blue light stimulations A. proteus presented spontaneous in-phase reduction in streaming speed at the time point when the next stimulation would have occurred. Our results corroborate the claim that single cells are able to anticipate periodic environmental cues and change their behaviour in anticipation of these cues. These findings may have implications for the interpretation of cellular processes in vitro and in vivo even in complex multicellular systems.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article (and its Supplementary Information files).

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Acknowledgements

We thank Pia Gloeckner and Clara Berends for their valuable support. Publication charges were supported by the Open Access Publishing Fund of Leipzig University.

Funding

Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. The Authors received no funding for this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Paul Flechsig Institute, Centre of Neuropathology and Brain Research, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Markus Morawski, Jens Stieler & Max Holzer

  2. Haptic Research Lab, Paul Flechsig Institute, Centre of Neuropathology and Brain Research, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Stephanie Margarete Mueller, Sven Martin & Martin Grunwald

Authors

  1. Stephanie Margarete Mueller
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  2. Sven Martin
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  3. Markus Morawski
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  4. Jens Stieler
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  5. Max Holzer
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  6. Martin Grunwald
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Contributions

SMM & MG concept and design of the study and original draft of the manuscript; SM creation of software and revision of manuscript; SMM acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data; MM, JS, MH draft of the work and revision. All authors have approved the submitted version and have agreed to be personally accountable for their own contributions.

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Correspondence to
Stephanie Margarete Mueller.

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Mueller, S.M., Martin, S., Morawski, M. et al. Anticipation of periodic events influences cell motility in amoeba proteus.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37298-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37298-0

Keywords

  • Single cells
  • Cell motility
  • Actin cytoskeleton
  • Cytoplasmic streaming
  • UV light
  • Aversive stimuli

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