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Discovery casts doubt on cell surface organization models

Date:
January 14, 2019
Source:
University of Gothenburg
Summary:
Like planets, the body's cell surfaces look smooth from a distance but hilly closer up. A new article describes implications, unknown to date, of the way data from cell surfaces are normally interpreted; i.e. as if they lacked topographic features.
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Like planets, the body's cell surfaces look smooth from a distance but hilly closer up. An article published in Communications Biology describes implications, unknown to date, of the way data from cell surfaces are normally interpreted; i.e. as if they lacked topographic features.

When Earth is studied from space, its surface looks smooth, but on zooming in we notice the mountains and valleys. The same applies to cells; without magnification they look smooth, but a closer look reveals both ridges and craters.

Researchers from the Universities of Gothenburg and Uppsala, Sweden, studied how this variation in cell topography affects "diffusion" -- how molecules move in the cell membrane. Diffusion is studied to develop models for the membrane's organization and to increase our understanding on the interaction between cell components.

The basis for the researchers' study was their previous discoveries. These showed that not a single one of 70 cell types studied has a smooth surface.

"Today's dominant models of how the plasma membrane that surrounds the cell is organized are based on two-dimensional interpretation of measurement data. Our study shows that this leads to completely incorrect conclusions, since the cell surface is three-dimensional," says Ingela Parmryd, Senior Lecturer in Cell Biology at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, the lead author of the article.

In studies of molecular movements, the cell topography can cause both marked underestimation of movement in the membrane and deviant movement patterns. This is shown in the present study, which is groundbreaking in its field.

"The goal of our research is to take the great leap forward from current two-dimensional to three-dimensional membrane models. This is going to change the way we perceive fundamental biological processes like cell signaling, cell-to-cell contacts and cell migration -- processes that change in pathological states, such as cancer," Ingela Parmryd says.


Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Gothenburg. Original written by Margareta Gustafsson Kubista. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Jeremy Adler, Ida-Maria Sintorn, Robin Strand, Ingela Parmryd. Conventional analysis of movement on non-flat surfaces like the plasma membrane makes Brownian motion appear anomalous. Communications Biology, 2019; 2 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s42003-018-0240-2

Cite This Page:

University of Gothenburg. "Discovery casts doubt on cell surface organization models." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 14 January 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190114100149.htm>.
University of Gothenburg. (2019, January 14). Discovery casts doubt on cell surface organization models. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190114100149.htm
University of Gothenburg. "Discovery casts doubt on cell surface organization models." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190114100149.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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