Cells work around the clock to provide, maintain and control every aspect of life. Communication is the key to success just as with humans.
Every basic biological process requires some form of communication between cells, not only with their immediate neighbors but also with those farther away. The current understanding is that this exchange of information is based on the propagation of signaling molecules.
Communication based on “mechanochemical” signals to control cell movement is related to a fundamental pathway – MAPK / ERK or ERK where the movement of an individual cell causes a sequence of reactions resulting in the collective migration of cells. The researchers emphasized that it was known from previous experiments how vital the ERK pathway is to cell activity, but the mechanism by which it can propagate in a cell collection was incomplete. ERK is so fundamental that it exists in all cells, controlling a wide range of actions, from growth and development to eventual cell death. The pathway is activated when a receptor protein on the cell surface binds to a signaling molecule, causing a cascade of proteins and reactions to spread throughout the interior of the cell.
Using a live imaging technique that can visualize the active ERK pathway of a single cell, the team began to observe the effects of cell movement. What they found was unexpected: when a cell began to expand, ERK activity increased, causing the cell to contract. The cells bind tightly and pack together, so when one begins to contract, by activating the ERK, it pulls neighboring cells. This then caused the surrounding cells to expand, activating their ERK, resulting in contractions leading to a kind of trailer that spreads to move colonies.
Researchers have previously suggested that cells expand when ERK is activated, but these experimental data provide clear evidence that the ERK-mediated chemical feedback system creates complex multicellular patterns and provides a new basis for multidimensional bio-understanding, including tissue repair and tumor metastasis.
SOURCE: University of kioto{ Developmental Cell Aug. 2020}
