{"id":25038,"date":"2013-08-07T12:54:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T10:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?p=25038"},"modified":"2024-03-26T00:29:50","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T23:29:50","slug":"cells-eat-themselves-into-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/science\/cells-eat-themselves-into-shape\/","title":{"rendered":"Cells eat themselves into shape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

In a nutshell:<\/h3>\n

– Endocytosis can play key role in changing cells\u2019 shape
– To quickly smooth out their surface, cells in fruit fly embryo \u2018suck in\u2019 long tubes of membrane
– Discovered thanks to new imaging strategy and combination of light and electron microscopy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The process cells use to \u2018swallow\u2019 up nutrients, hormones and other signals from their environment \u2013 called endocytosis \u2013 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<\/em>, could help explain how the cells on your skin become different from those that line your stomach or intestine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re the first to show that endocytosis really drives changes in cell shape by directly remodelling the cell membrane,\u201d says Stefano De Renzis, who led the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De Renzis and colleagues made the discovery by studying the fruit fly Drosophila<\/em>,which starts life as a sac. The fly\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n