Thursday, March 23, 2017

Sophistication, coordination and communication of cells

Each day we learn more that supports the complexity of life.  Cells communicating, cooperating, working in concert, aware of each other all by chance.  Not a chance.  It smacks of design and programming. 

How cells communicate to move together as a group

Two cell membrane proteins, Fat2 and Lar, trigger leading and trailing edge movements during epithelial migration

A new signaling system has been discovered that epithelial cells use to coordinate their individual movements and efficiently move tissues, report scientists.  

"When an individual cell needs to move somewhere, it manages just fine on its own. It extends protrusions from its leading edge and retracts the trailing edge to scoot itself along, without having to worry about what the other cells around it are doing. But when cells are joined together in a sheet of tissue, or epithelium, they have to coordinate their movements with their neighbors. It's like walking by yourself versus navigating a crowded room. To push through the crowd, you have to communicate with others by talking ("Pardon me") or tapping them on the shoulder. Cells do the same thing, but instead of verbal cues and hand gestures, they use proteins to signal to each other."