How do Cells Obtain Their Shapes? A new Mechanism Determined

One of the research projects being carried out by the experimental biologists in the Martin Laboratory at the University of Lausanne, under the direction of professor Sophie Martin, involves using light to trigger processes within genetically modified fission yeast cells. When team members were carrying out these experiments, they noticed that a certain protein would be displaced from the cell’s development zone when added. To find out the reason, they got in touch with Dimitrios Vavylonis, who heads the Vavylonis Group in the Lehigh College Division of Physics.

Theoretical physicist Vavylonis explains, “We continued to build a numerical simulation that connected cell membrane “growth” to protein motion as well as model a few other theories that we examined after discussions with them.

The multidisciplinary team used modeling and experiments to characterize a biological mechanism that was previously unknown. The teams discovered and named a brand-new mechanism that a straightforward yeast cell uses to acquire its shape. The most recent edition of Science Advances contains a piece titled “Cell patterning by secretion-induced plasma membrane flows” that details these findings.

According to Vavylonis, when cells move or enlarge, they should add a new membrane layer to those growth locations. Exocytosis is the term used to describe the delivery of membrane layers. Additionally, for cells to maintain “polarization” (a feeling of direction) or expand in a coordinated manner, this membrane must be supplied to a particular region.

According to Vavylonis, “We demonstrated that these processes are coupled: local excess of exocytosis causes several membrane-attached proteins to flow away from the growth region.” The non-growing cell area is marked by these proteins that move away, creating a self-sustaining pattern that causes the tubular shape of these yeast cells.

Cell patterning, also known as the process by which cells acquire spatial nonuniformities on their surfaces, has for the very first time had its workings determined.

Following simulations conducted by the Vavylonis group under the direction of Postdoctoral Partner David Rutkowski, the Martin team carried out experimental testing. Vavylonis and Rutkowski examined the results of the experiments to make sure that the protein distribution they observed in their simulations matched the data gathered from the research on live cells.

Researchers studying processes related to cell proliferation and membrane traffic, such as neurobiologists and those studying cancer cell processes, may find the work particularly interesting, the team claims.

According to Rutkowski’s research, patterns in biological systems are frequently dynamic. “Patterns establish themselves via physical processes, including continuous flow as well as turnover.”

Vavylonis asserted, “We were able to support the membrane-flow variant of patterning. Finally, the Martin team could design cells whose form can be changed by light using this concept.

Originally published on Scitechdaily.com. Read the original article.

Reference: Cell patterning by secretion-induced plasma membrane flows, Science Advances (2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg6718