Wait for Force

We all need a little nudge sometimes, and a cautionary hand on the shoulder at others. Our cells are the same, and physical forces can dictate when they take action. Cells of the intestine renew rapidly, as new cells replace old when the physical burden of food processing wears them out. But how the reserve supply knows when to divide and develop from starter cells into mature absorptive cells isn’t well understood. Researchers examined the intestines of flies lacking vinculin – a protein important in determining cell fate and sensing mechanical forces. These flies developed enlarged guts (pictured, bottom) with excessive cell turnover (green) compared to normal flies (top), showing vinculin’s role in keeping precursor cells back until physical forces between cells are sufficient to trigger the need for a refresh. Understanding this mechanical management could help explain how changes in the process are linked to ageing, inflammation, and disease.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

Website

• Image by Jerome Bohere, work by Jerome Bohere, Buffy L Eldridge-Thomas and Golnar Kolahgar
• Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, Downing St, University of Cambridge, UK
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, October 2022