So since this is my first blog, I thought I would like to make things clear. So you know when you talk about cells, you probably think of how they grow and divide. You know, that cell division diagram everybody probably has seen like a million times in textbooks and on the internet.
Please don't bother with the detail, my point is this is the diagram everybody has seen. And even though cell division is such a complicated pathway and everybody is talking about it, I bet fewer people would even think about how would it look like when a cell moves? Or in other word, cells move around as well.
Cells aren't static, in fact, there are many cell types inside your body that are motile. Your immune cells tracking down bacteria to destroy them, the cells in your skin migrate to close a cut on your finger that accidentally made while chopping the onion (while crying at the same time), or the cells that migrate to makeup your body while you're still an embryo inside your mom's tummy. Of course, these are the kind of cell migration (that is a proper scientific term) that are beneficial for your body, to keep your body functioning right. And then we have the bad type of cell migration. You have probably heard of cancer and metastasis. This nasty disease is currently the second-most deadly disease in the world, just after cardiac disease. And you know what, 90% of these deaths are due to the cancer cells did not want to sit still but moving around the body. So my PhD is trying to understand the mechanism of how the cells move and migrate, and translate that into understanding how a cancer cell can invade and metastasize.
(Different kinds of cell migration)
But the question is, do you know how a cell actually migrate? What machinery that the cell uses to drive them along? So to say that I'm super proud isn't enough but I'm super proud to say that my PhD boss was the one who contributed significantly to this field of study. She discovered 2 major proteins in this process that lacking either one of them, the cell essentially won't be able to move. These two proteins (or more correctly speaking protein complexes) are called the Arp2/3 complex and the Scar/WAVE complex (picture below).
Let's not get into the details but all you need to know if when these two complexes become activated, they start triggering the formation of another protein called actin. Actin likes to form fibres and so they assemble themselves, millions and millions of tiny actin particles come together and form these long fiberous structures you could see above (orange rods). And those fibres are what forces the cell to migrate, to move. Think of those actin rods like the stick you use to push the car tire rolling, but in this case, you are standing inside the care tire instead of outside. The cancer cells use the same thing too! You can see one of my videos here showing what a cancer cell migrating looks like.
Anyway, so I hope you have learnt something interesting today, something different I guess. I bet you didn't get taught these at your school, at least not yet :) And so I hope you can appreciate how dynamic the cell can be, and not just division that they do, but they move around too, alright?
Oh and by the way, if I didn't say the source at the end of a picture, it just means I made that picture. I like drawing :)
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