Cell Biology Interview Question:

How do the amoeboid movements occur? What are examples of beings and cells that use such movements for locomotion?

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Amoeboid movements are created by cytoplasmic movements and plasma membrane projections called pseudopods. Their formation actively changes the external shape of some portions of the cell surface making it to move along a substratum. Pseudopods appear from differences of viscosity among neighboring regions of cytoplasm near the plasma membrane and from the contractile action of microfilaments.

Amoeboid movements occur, for example, in amoebas (a protozoan), organisms that use their movement to find food. The leukocytes, cells of the immune system, when attracted by chemical substances (immune mediators) use amoeboid movements to get out from capillaries in regions of tissue damage to participate in the inflammatory process.

Cytoskeleton and Cell Movement - Image Diversity: pseudopods
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