This discovery could impact cancer research, treatment of neurological disorders and other
The researchers observed this at the nanoscale with a microscope. According to them, the human immune cell pursues and then devours the bacterium.
The authors of the new work studied in more detail how cells use “tentacles,” also called filopodia. They help cells move throughout the human body.
The cage has no eyes or sense of smell, butThe surface has ultra-thin filopodia that resemble the tangled tentacles of an octopus. They help the cell move towards the bacterium and at the same time act as sensory tentacles that identify the bacterium as prey.
Paul Martin Bendix, head of the Laboratory of Experimental Biophysics at the Niels Bohr Institute
The discovery is not that filopodiaact as sensors - this is already well known. The authors of the new work found that filopodia can rotate and behave mechanically: this helps the cell move. For example, when a cancer cell invades new tissue.
Our work will help cancer researchers.Cancer cells are known for being highly invasive. Therefore, it can be concluded that they are very dependent on the effectiveness of their filopodia. If we find ways to suppress the filopodia of cancer cells, then the growth of cancer can be stopped.
Paul Martin Bendix, head of the Laboratory of Experimental Biophysics at the Niels Bohr Institute
The mechanism discovered by the researchers is inall living cells. Therefore, it is also important to study the work of filopodia in embryonic stem cells and brain cells, which are highly dependent on filopodia during development.
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