Tissue fluidity: biophysical shape-shifting for regeneration
Zitong C, Zhenyu C, Y Rinkevich · 2024
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Description
Skin, like other epithelial tissues, can loosen from a solid-like sheet into a fluid-like state in which cells rearrange, and that loosening helps wounds close. The commentary takes up a recent mouse study where researchers wiped out basal skin cells genetically and watched the tissue respond. As surviving cells divided to refill the layer, the tissue fluidized. Gene and protein analyses traced the switch to a signaling chain running through the EGFR growth receptor and the AP1 transcription factor.
The authors place that finding in a wider frame: the same solid-to-fluid shift shows up in embryo development, when cells unjam, and layers grow dense. They argue the skin is an ideal place to study these shifts because its layers are well mapped. For regeneration research, the mechanism points to a lever — restart the fluid state; dormant stem cells may wake to repair damage.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Zitong C, Zhenyu C, Y Rinkevich |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2024 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 6 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |