Directed migration of immune and epithelial cells is critical for rapid responses to tissue injury or infection. Endogenous electric fields, generated by disruption of the transepithelial potential across the skin, are thought to guide cells to wound sites. However, how single cells detect these electrical cues remains unclear. We identified Galvanin (TMEM154), a poorly characterized single-pass transmembrane protein, as required for electric-field-guided migration of rapidly moving cells. Expression of Galvanin is sufficient to confer electric-field-guided migration on otherwise non-responsive epithelial cells. Upon electric-field exposure, Galvanin rapidly relocalizes to the anodal side of cells, and in human neutrophils, relocalization is immediately followed by changes in spatial patterns of cellular protrusion and retraction. These data suggest Galvanin acts as a direct sensor of the electric field, transducing spatial information about a cell's electrical environment to the intracellular migratory apparatus to support directed cell migration.
Belliveau et al. (Fri,) studied this question.