Find key mechanism in the formation of organs – Trade

Scientists at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona have discovered a new device that shapes the cell and generates contractile forces during development and the formation of the bodies .

The new mechanism, published in the journal Developmental Cell, includes strategies that also occur in programmed cell death, something never described so far, according to Jerome Solon, head of the group of Biomechanics Mofogénesis CRG, who led the research.

According to Solon, the discovery of this mechanism, similar to wound healing, helps a better understanding of the development of bodies and its maintenance.

cell and tissues need to generate forces to shape the organs and the correct embryonic development and CRG scientists have focused on one of the most studied developmental processes. dorsal closure of the fruit fly (Drosophila)

The dorsal closure is a process in which cells skin in the embryo are stretched over a hole and closed, that is, the edges of the hole form a kind of zipper stretching and joining the skin cells of the embryo to shape and move to the next stage of development.

According to Solon, many research groups studying the development and some of them focus on the dorsal closure because it looks both genetically and mechanically wound healing in mammals.

“The mechanisms that shape cells and tissues known so far are based on forces that come from changes in the internal structure or cell cytoskeleton and the network of filaments pull, push or contract cells. So now we have discovered is that the cells can also generate forces simply changing its volume, “said Jerome Solon.

dorsal closure 3D

to conduct their research, Solon and his collaborators made a quantitative description of dorsal closure dimensional level, visualized the cells and, together with fellow physicist Guillaume Salbreux, the Francis Crick Institute in London, built a 3D model to better understand what was We happening at the level of each cell individually.

“Surprisingly, we found that the cells are not stretched or changed such form and understood so far, but the cells shrank and so change their volume, dwarfing “said the researcher.

” When viewed cell in most developmental processes involving tissue contraction what we see is that the cells change shape going from You have to be flattened to pear-shaped, without affecting their volume. Simply is distributed differently, “he said.

In contrast, the results of this research the scientists observed that the cells continue flattened but have decreased in volume becoming smaller.

” The most curious of all is that the mechanisms that give rise to these changes are the same as those found in programmed cell death or apoptosis. It is therefore important for us to emphasize the dual role of apoptosis in the process of development in particular, “said Solon.

” We indicated that it is likely that these mechanisms play an important role in other processes . formation of organs and tissues, such as wound healing or the development of limbs or brain “

Source: EFE