When an organism is developing, when a wound is closed or when tumors change places (metastasis) … in all these cases, the cells involved must move collectively. Scientists from the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) have discovered that these large cell movements occur in waves and “by pushing”. The conclusions are published in the journalNature Physics. “Cells in general are very small and do not have a very important mass, so the waves they form are not like those of the sea where the main physical force is gravity,” explains Xavier Trepat, co-author of the study, to the SINC agency. “They are” deformation “waves in whichcells interact with each other, pushing and changing shape“.
The effect could be compared to that of seeing a traffic jam from the air where some cars move forward and others follow after a slight delay to fill the gaps. Although the cells of the body, unlike cars, push and stretch each other, causing a much more complex phenomenon.
While it has long been known how mechanical waves in inert matter work, until now they have not been observed in living matter. Thesewaves advance at about a millimeter per dayand they are among the slowest waves ever discovered.
On the other hand, scientists have discovered that the movement of a multicellular tissue is caused by a pattern of tension maintained in time and space. “Physical forces can act as signals that activate regulatory protein networks, that is, biological events, good or bad.“, says the expert.
