New cellular mechanism to explore the environment has been uncovered

[xchrom]

http://atomiumculture.eu/content/new-cellular-mechanism-explore-environment-has-been-uncovered

Author:
University of Barcelona

The rigidity of the cellular environment can be the determining factor of whether a stem cell will differentiate into bone or fat, for example, or whether it will behave normally or turn cancerous. A research paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), led by the researcher Pere Roca-Cusachs, from the Department of Physiological Sciences I of the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), both centres belong to the international excellence campus HUBc, uncovers a mechanism by which cells explore their environment. This finding opens doors to being able to predict or control cell behaviour.

Just as people are picky about the type of mattress they want to sleep on – not too hard, but not so soft either – so are cells. In fact, the rigidity of the cellular environment is so important that it can be the determining factor of whether a stem cell will differentiate into bone or fat, for example – or whether a cell behaves normally or turns cancerous.

In a paper published in PNAS this week, researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in Barcelona have uncovered a crucial mechanism by which cells probe their environment, taking them a step closer to understanding how they interact with their surroundings; in turn, this opens doors to being able to predict or control cell behaviour.

“How a cell measures rigidity has long been a mystery,” explains Pere Roca-Cusachs, senior researcher in IBEC’s Cellular and Respiratory Biomechanics group, which carried out the research alongside collaborators in the US. “Does it squeeze its environment with a given force, and then measure how much it moves, like a person bouncing on a bed to see how much it gives? Or, on the other hand, does it apply a given distortion, and then measure how much force is needed? Also, is the measurement done by the cell as a whole, or does it have multiple miniature sensors which probe the rigidity at various different sites?”

[postulater]

1. I always like to read work on the boundary between the gene and the environment.

thanks

[bemildred]

2. Interesting. nt