Cells play ‘tag’ to determine direction of movement
Scientists from Barcelona and London, looked at cells in the neural crest, a very mobile embryonic structure in vertebrates that gives rise to most of the peripheral nervous system and to other cell types in the cardiovascular system, pigment cells in the skin, and some bones, cartilage, and connective tissue in the head. Researchers saw that, during development, these neural crest cells ‘chase’ other types of cells — so-called placodal cells that give rise to the sensory organs — which dash away when approached, thus propelling the cell sheet in a certain direction. "The effect can also be likened to a donkey and carrot effect, with the neural crest cells — the donkey — chasing but never quite reaching the carrot, the placodal cells," explains Xavier Trepat, ICREA Research Professor of the UB and leader of the Research Group on Integrative Cell and Tissue Dynamics of IBEC…