Twisty chains of proteins keep cells oriented
Curved fibers enable cells to tell right from left
Fibers composed of a protein called actin are responsible for human cells’ ability to tell right from left, researchers report in the April Nature Cell Biology. These twisty fibers (below, in yellow; cell’s nucleus in magenta) are part of a cell’s internal scaffolding known as the cytoskeleton. Among other functions, the fibers help cells migrate from one part of a developing embryo to another.
Scientists, including cell biologist Alexander Bershadsky at the National University of Singapore, had amassed evidence that the cytoskeleton enabled cells to distinguish right from left. So Bershadsky’s colleague Yee Han Tee recorded 100 videos of actin fibers organizing themselves inside human foreskin cells placed under the microscope.