#cytonemes

[bpod-bpod]

Super Sonic Transport

Building all the different parts of a baby in the womb requires clear communication between cells. To achieve this, cells produce signalling molecules that tell their neighbours what to do. One of the most important of these is called Sonic Hedgehog (named after the video game character), which is involved in shaping many parts of an embryo, such as the developing brain, limbs and gut, and is also implicated in some types of cancer in adults. However, despite having so many important roles, little is known about exactly how it works. By tagging Sonic Hedgehog with a yellow fluorescent tags, researchers have discovered that it triggers the formations of long, spindly threads known as cytonemes, which helps it move between cells. Knowing more about how Sonic Hedgehog works not only sheds light on how healthy organs are built but also helps to explain what happens when things have gone wrong.

Written by Kat Arney

Image from work by Eric T Hall and colleagues

Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in eLife, February 2021

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#science #biomedicine #sonic hedgehog #cells #cell communication #cell signaling #immunofluorescence #cytonemes

[do-not-perceive-me]

Cellular biology professor tried to motivate us, adults who made the decision of studying biology, by saying "Come on, guys!! Cytonemes are really cool!!!"

#science #science memes #academia #academic #dark academia #university #studyblr #biology memes #biology #molecular biology #cellular biology

[lopezdorothy70-blog]

Revolutionary Discovery May Change the Way We Treat...

One reason cancer is so lethal is its ability to spread quickly throughout the body, a process known as metastasis. New research has discovered a cellular mechanism that enables cancer cells to divide and migrate.

Cells need to send signals to one another in order to develop normally. Wnt proteins, a type of signaling molecule, are largely responsible for controlling cell reproduction. Faulty signaling can cause cancerous cells to divide and multiply. Until now, the way that these proteins send signals has been unclear. But an international team of scientists led by Steffen Scholpp, a professor and principal investigator at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, has discovered that certain bumps on a cell are responsible for communication, and ultimately metastasis.

These bumps are called cytonemes, and the researchers found that by stopping the cytonemes from forming, they were able to “short-circuit” the signal transmission from Wnt-producing cells. This is a groundbreaking discovery.

The research team explains:

In the early days, researchers believed that signaling molecules are released from cells into the extracellular space, the area between cells, and diffuse randomly. This would mean that target cells are surrounded by a mix of various signaling molecules.

In contrast, our research shows that there is a flexible grid of tiny protrusions connecting all cells in a multicellular body. This novel concept allows a fast, precise, and controlled exchange of information between sender cells and target cells.

We have started to understand the characteristics of this information grid in the matrix of a tissue. These are very exciting times for cell biology.

Our research provides the first insight how this web of cell protrusions is formed and what kind of consequences it has if we alter these connections.

The ability to stop cancer from metastasizing would be one of the greatest cancer breakthroughs of our time, allowing us to take corrective actions to heal without the cancer spreading.

Remember that diet plays a major role in both the prevention of cancer and the contributing factors of cancer growth and metastasis. In fact, up to 85% of cancers diagnosed in one study in the United States showed that unhealthy lifestyle factors were the primary causes of these diagnoses and may have been prevented with improved dietary changes.

Are you eating these 8 nutrients that block cancer metastasis?

The post Revolutionary Discovery May Change the Way We Treat... appeared first on The Truth About Cancer.

[naivelocus]

Distributing signaling proteins in space and time: the province of cytonemes

Publication date: Source:Current Opinion in Genetics & Development, Volume 45 Author(s): Thomas B Kornberg — Current Opinion in Genetics

#Current Opinion in Genetics #Distributing signaling proteins in space and time: the province of cyto

[bpod-bpod]

Cutting Off Cancer

Cancer cells don’t do their dirty work alone. They get help. The growth of many tumours depends on their interactions with healthy cells in the surrounding environment, but how they exchange signals and material with them is not well understood. One way cells can communicate with each other is by forming temporary connections along thin protrusions called cytonemes. Could tumours hijack this trick for themselves? To investigate, researchers studied tumours in fruit flies (green in the wing section pictured, with normal muscle cells in red) and found that cytonemes (close up on the right) connecting them to surrounding tissues are essential for tumour growth. Crucially, inhibiting the growth and activity of these cytonemes cured the flies of otherwise lethal tumours, raising hopes that this could provide a new way to cut cancer off from its support network, and eventually lead to new treatments for people with cancer.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Image from work by Sol Fereres and colleagues

Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in PLOS Genetics, September 2019

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#science #biomedicine #biomedical research #biomedical science #tumours #cancer #oncology #cells

[bpod-bpod]

Projected Delivery

Couriers will often try three times to deliver our parcels, but cells in tissues and organs can’t afford to wait. They’re constantly exchanging chemical signals – proteins produced in one cell are 'sent' to neighbouring cells, but how the delivery happens can be a little mysterious. In these zebrafish cells (artificially coloured red), Wnt proteins (green) help to coordinate development. They travel towards neighbouring cells down long arm-like projections called cytonemes. This cellular courier service is organised by the Wnt proteins themselves, which trigger the growth of the cytonemes. Disruption to this plan leads to delayed messages and serious problems in developing tissues. Researchers have found similar delivery networks at play in embryos and tumours, and understanding the proteins involved could help to deliver (or destroy) these vital messages.

Written by John Ankers

Image from work by Benjamin Mattes and colleagues

Living Systems Institute, School of Biosciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

Video originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)

Published in eLife, July 2018

You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

#science #biomedicine #cells #embryo development #tissue #zebrafish

[thatisprettysmart]

Cutting Off Cancer

Cancer cells don’t do their dirty work alone. They get help. The growth of many tumours depends on their interactions with healthy cells in the surrounding environment, but how they exchange signals and material with them is not well understood. One way cells can communicate with each other is by forming temporary connections along thin protrusions called cytonemes. Could tumours hijack this trick for themselves? To investigate, researchers studied tumours in fruit flies (green in the wing section pictured, with normal muscle cells in red) and found that cytonemes (close up on the right) connecting them to surrounding tissues are essential for tumour growth. Crucially, inhibiting the growth and activity of these cytonemes cured the flies of otherwise lethal tumours, raising hopes that this could provide a new way to cut cancer off from its support network, and eventually lead to new treatments for people with cancer.

Image from work by Sol Fereres and colleagues

Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in PLOS Genetics, September 2019

from BPoD - Biomedical Picture of the Day https://ift.tt/2skteSB

#BPoD - Biomedical Picture of the Day