PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Cells eat themselves into shape

Specialized endocytocis consumes membrane tendrils

2013-08-09
(Press-News.org) The process cells use to 'swallow' up nutrients, hormones and other signals from their environment – called endocytosis – can play a crucial role in shaping the cells themselves, scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have found. The study, published today in Nature Communications, could help explain how the cells on your skin become different from those that line your stomach or intestine.

"We're the first to show that endocytosis really drives changes in cell shape by directly remodelling the cell membrane," says Stefano De Renzis, who led the work.

De Renzis and colleagues made the discovery by studying the fruit fly Drosophila, which starts life as a sac. The fly's embryo is initially a single large cell, inside which nuclei divide and divide, until, at three hours old, the cell membrane moves in to surround each nucleus, so that in about an hour the embryo goes from one to 6000 cells. As this happens, cells change shape. The cell membrane starts off with lots of finger-like tendrils sticking out of the embryo, and in about 10 minutes it smoothes down to a flat surface, like a rubber glove transforming into a round balloon.

The EMBL scientists found that, for this quick shape-shift to happen, the cells 'eat up' their finger-like offshoots. And, to quickly take up all that excess membrane, cells adapt their 'feeding strategy'. Instead of bending a little pouch of membrane inwards and eventually detaching it into the cell as a round pod, or vesicle, the fruit fly embryo's cells suck in long tubes of membrane. Once inside the cell, those tubes are then processed into smaller vesicles.

The findings, which include uncovering one of the key molecules involved, provide a new way of thinking about how cells take on the shape required to perform different tasks – and not only in fruit flies.

"This outward-facing – or apical – surface is the main difference between different kinds of epithelial cell," says De Renzis. "The cells on your skin are smooth, but the ones lining your intestine have lots of 'fingers' like our fly embryos, and we know for instance that some bowel diseases involve problems in those 'fingers'."

For this work, Piotr Fabrowski in De Renzis' lab developed a new strategy for imaging the fruit fly embryo and Aleksandar Necakov, a joint post-doctoral fellow in the De Renzis and John Briggs labs at EMBL, combined light and electron microscopy to see how different the swallowed membrane tubes are from the vesicles usually formed in endocytosis.



INFORMATION:



The videos accompanying this release are available on the EMBL YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/emblmedia.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

The 'genetics of sand' may shed new light on evolutionary process over millions of years

2013-08-09
An evolutionary ecologist at the University of Southampton, is using 'grains of sand' to understand more about the process of evolution. Dr Thomas Ezard is using the fossils of microscopic aquatic creatures called planktonic foraminifera, often less than a millimetre in size, which can be found in all of the world's oceans. The remains of their shells now resemble grains of sand to the naked eye and date back hundreds of millions of years. A new paper by Dr Ezard, published today (9 August 2013) in the journal Methods in Ecology & Evolution, opens the debate on the best ...

How to achieve a well-balanced gut

2013-08-09
Creating an environment that nurtures the trillions of beneficial microbes in our gut and, at the same time, protects us against invasion by food-borne pathogens is a challenge. A study published on August 8 in PLOS Pathogens reveals the role of a key player in this balancing act. SIGIRR is a protein present at the surface of the cells that line the gut that dampens the innate (non-specific) immune response of these cells to bacteria. The new study, led by Xiaoxia Li (from the Lerner Research Institute in Cleveland, USA) and Bruce Vallance (from BC's Childrens' Hospital ...

Dialysis patients may live longer if their kidney specialist sees fewer patients

2013-08-09
Nephrologists whose dialysis patients had the best survival over six years had a significantly lower patient caseload than nephrologists whose patients had the worst survival. For every additional 50 patients cared for by a nephrologist, patients had a 2% higher risk of dying within six years. Worldwide, more than 1.5 million people are treated with hemodialysis. Washington, DC (August 8, 2013) — Dialysis patients receiving treatment from kidney specialists with a higher patient caseload have a greater risk of dying prematurely than those receiving care from specialists ...

JILA researchers discover atomic clock can simulate quantum magnetism

2013-08-09
Researchers at JILA have for the first time used an atomic clock as a quantum simulator, mimicking the behavior of a different, more complex quantum system.* Atomic clocks now join a growing list of physical systems that can be used for modeling and perhaps eventually explaining the quantum mechanical behavior of exotic materials such as high-temperature superconductors, which conduct electricity without resistance. All but the smallest, most trivial quantum systems are too complicated to simulate on classical computers, hence the interest in quantum simulators. Sharing ...

Telemedicine consultations significantly improve pediatric care in rural emergency rooms

2013-08-09
Telemedicine consultations with pediatric critical-care medicine physicians significantly improve the quality of care for seriously ill and injured children treated in remote rural emergency rooms, where pediatricians and pediatric specialists are scarce, a study by researchers at UC Davis Children's Hospital has found. The study also found that rural emergency room physicians are more likely to adjust their pediatric patients' diagnoses and course of treatment after a live, interactive videoconference with a specialist. Parents' satisfaction and perception of the quality ...

Study reveals role of 'peacekeeper' in the gut

2013-08-09
A new study has shone a spotlight on the peacekeeping mechanisms in our intestines. A protein, called SIGIRR, is produced by the cells that line the intestines. It supresses the cells' immune response to bacteria. "We expected that when SIGIRR was removed, our intestines would trigger a stronger immune response to a gut infection, affording us more protection against the infection," says Prof. Bruce Vallance, an associate professor in UBC's Dept. of Pediatrics and a scientist at the Child & Family Research Institute at BC Children's Hospital. "Instead, the stronger ...

Autism affects different parts of the brain in women and men

2013-08-09
Autism affects different parts of the brain in females with autism than males with autism, a new study reveals. The research is published today in the journal Brain as an open-access article. Scientists at the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge used magnetic resonance imaging to examine whether autism affects the brain of males and females in a similar or different way. They found that the anatomy of the brain of someone with autism substantially depends on whether an individual is male or female, with brain areas that were atypical in adult females ...

Muscle health depends on sugar superstructure

2013-08-09
For many inherited diseases, such as cystic fibrosis or Huntington disease, the disease-causing genetic mutation damages or removes a protein that has an essential role in the body. This protein defect is the root cause of the disease symptoms. However, for a group of muscular dystrophies known collectively as congenital muscular dystrophies (CMDs), the sequence of the protein that is central to normal function is typically unaffected. Instead, the defects lie in processing proteins—ones that are responsible for modifying the central protein by adding sugar chains (glycans). ...

Views you can use? How online ratings affect your judgment

2013-08-09
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Are you influenced by the opinions of other people — say, in the comments sections of websites? If your answer is no, here's another question: Are you sure? A new study co-authored by an MIT professor suggests that many people are, in fact, heavily influenced by the positive opinions other people express online — but are much less swayed by negative opinions posted in the same venues. Certain topics, including politics, see much more of this "herding" effect than others. The results, published today in the journal Science, detail a five-month experiment ...

Atomic insights into plant growth

2013-08-09
This news release is available in German. If one wants to better understand how plants grow, one must analyse the chemistry of life in its molecular detail. Michael Hothorn from the Friedrich-Miescher-Laboratory of the Max Planck Society in Tübingen and his team are doing just that. Their latest work now reveals that a plant membrane receptor requires a helper protein to sense a growth-promoting steroid hormone and to transduce this signal across the cell membrane. Every cell is surrounded by a greasy cell membrane. Signals from other cells and from the environment ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Researchers reveal key differences in STING inhibition between humans and mice

Researchers generate lung cells from mouse fibroblasts in just 7 to 10 days

Prizewinner’s research reveals how immune responses to friendly skin microbiota could pave way for novel vaccination responses

Old aerial photos give scientists a new tool to predict sea level rise

20 million for courageous research at ISTA

Ships trigger high and unexpected emissions of the greenhouse gas methane

Optimizing laser irradiation: An in-silico meta-analysis of skin discoloration treatment

Climate crisis could force wild vanilla plants and pollinating insects apart, threatening global supply

Teens report spending 21% of each driving trip looking at their phone

Study explores the ‘social norms’ of distracted driving among teens

Diver-operated microscope brings hidden coral biology into focus

Enhancing the “feel-good” factor of urban vegetation using AI and street view images

A single genetic mutation may have made humans more vulnerable to cancer than chimpanzees

Innovative nanocomposite hydrogel shows promise for cartilage regeneration in osteoarthritis treatment

2025 Guangci Laboratory Medicine Innovation and Development Conference

LabMed Discovery is included in the ICI World Journals database

LabMed Discovery is included in the China Open Access Journal (COAJ) database

Vaccination support program reduces pneumonia-related mortality by 25 percent among the elderly

Over decades, a healthy lifestyle outperforms metformin in preventing onset of Type 2 diabetes

Mental health disorders, malaria, and heart disease most affected by covid pandemic

Green transition will boost UK productivity

Billions voted in 2024, but major new report exposes cracks in global democracy

Researchers find “forever chemicals” impact the developing male brain

Quantum leap in precision sensing across technologies

Upgrading biocrude oil into sustainable aviation fuel using zeolite-supported iron-molybdenum carbide nanocatalysts

For effective science communication, ‘just the facts’ isn’t good enough

RT-EZ: A golden gate assembly toolkit for streamlined genetic engineering of rhodotorula toruloides

Stem Cell Reports announces five new early career editors

Support networks may be the missing link for college students who seek help for excessive drinking

The New England Journal of Medicine shines spotlight on forensic pathology

[Press-News.org] Cells eat themselves into shape
Specialized endocytocis consumes membrane tendrils