Dr Matthews' talk included fantastic microscopy images and movies of cytoskeletal remodelling.

Thanks to our Gold sponsor BGI Genomics for supporting this week’s seminar.

#CancerBiology #CellShape #Cytoskeleton #PancreaticCancer #LifeSciences #BiomedicalSciences

This week’s seminar is kindly sponsored by our Gold sponsor BGI Genomics.
#CancerBiology #Cytoskeleton #CellShape #LifeSciences #RAS #KRAS #BiomedicalSciences #BLSeminarSeries

Epidermal cells acquire different cell shapes to enable their functions and maintain tissue integrity in plants. Meristematic cells differentiate and expand into diverse mature cell types, including jigsaw puzzle-shaped pavement cells (a), round stomatal guard cells (b), elongated epidermal cells in hypocotyls and the apical hook (c), and root epidermal cells with root hairs (d). The spatial distribution and arrangement of cell wall polysaccharides, such as cellulose microfibrils, xyloglucans, and pectins (e.g., homogalacturonan represent as HG), and the abundance of methylester groups on these components in differentiating cells regulate anisotropy during cell growth, enabling the acquisition of specific cell shapes. In addition, proteins like KATANIN and CLASP reorient dynamically the cortical microtubules. These cortical microtubules rearrangement is in response to mechanical cues, either self-generated (as in b, c) or from neighboring cells (a, c), leading to the resulting cell shape. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Auxin controls cell expansion by regulating cell wall biosynthesis and cell remodeling. Auxin promotes cell expansion by acidifying the cell wall and activating wall synthesis and loosening enzymes. Auxin efflux (PINs) and influx (AUX1) transporters establish concentration gradients in growing tissue. Auxin enters cells via influx transporters and activates the TRANSPORT INHIBITOR RESPONSE 1/AUXIN SIGNALING F-BOX PROTEINS-AUXIN/INDOLE ACETIC ACID (TIR1/AFB-Aux/IAA) nuclear signaling cascade, which regulates auxin-responsive genes, including AUXIN RESPONSE FACTORs (ARFs) and SMALL AUXIN UP RNAs (SAURs). Auxin activates the H+-ATPase proton pump through TRANSMEMBRANE KINASE 1 (TMK1), acidifying the cell wall and triggering loosening enzymes including PECTIN METHYLESTERASEs (PMEs), EXPANSINs, and XYLOGLUCAN:XYLOGLUCOSYL TRANSFERASEs (EXTs). Cellulose microfibrils are synthesized by the plasma membrane-bound cellulose synthase complex (CSC), with cortical microtubules guiding the exocytosis of this complex toward expanding cell edges. Auxin coordinates the reorientation of cortical microtubules and actin filaments to regulate the trafficking of cell wall polysaccharides to ensure proper cell wall expansion and specific cell shape acquisition. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

🌱🧩 How do plant cells get their shape? 🧪

Check out the new #open-access #review exploring the mechanochemical duet between auxin & the cell wall in shaping diverse plant cell types from @srobertgroup.bsky.social's Lab.

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/ppl....

#PlantBiology #CellShape #Auxin #Biomechanics

Dynamic cytoskeletal regulation of cell shape supports resilience of lymphatic endothelium - Nature Dynamic cytoskeletal regulation of lymphatic endothelial cell shape, induced by isotropic stretch and crucial for dermal lymphatic capillary function, is identified and found to result from continuous...

This week #JournalClub @labsoap.bsky.social @nature.com @taijamakinenlab.bsky.social #lymphatics #cellshape
#cytoskeleton
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Mechanics of E. coli cell width homeostasis and bulging dynamics from MreB and septum inhibition The mechanobiology of cytoskeleton and cell envelope play a vital role in cell shape homeostasis. In the gram-negative model rod-shaped bacterium Escherichia coli antibiotics that weaken the cell enve...

New preprint from the lab with #predoc Tanvi and #undergrad Ryth and a physicist from Bombay - #bacteria, shells, MreB and #turgorpressure #biophysics of #cellshape

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Dynamical Cell Systems inFocus 2024:

This year Vicky Bousgouni defended her PhD! Vicky performed colllagen hydrogel based screens ever to identify genes that regulate #melanoma invasion. She identified ARHGEF9 which is essential for melanoma to change #cellshape in 3D. https://buff.ly/4ieynjg

Interpretable Phenotypic Profiling of 3D Cellular Morphodynamics The dynamic 3D shape of a cell acts as a signal of its physiological state, reflecting the interplay of environmental stimuli and intra- and extra-cellular processes. However, there is little quantita...

#Sentinal4D and my lab at the Institute of Cancer Research have developed Al methods to analyze videos of #cancer cells, and measure how #cellshape changes over time.

We are using this technology to understand how drugs work, and find new cancer therapeutics.

link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

These are Melanoma cells invading 3D Collagen Hydrogel. We think this is similar to how they move in a patient's body. If we can stop these #cellshape changes, we hope to stop #cancers from spreading.

#filipodiafriday

I am a #Professor at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, UK.
My research aims to understand how #cancer cells change their shape to drive disease.
In particular we are interested in the connection between shape, Cancer, and #inflammation. To study #cellshape we use advanced imaging and #AI.