Hyderabad, Sept. 15 -- Scientists at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, have discovered how cells remodel their internal skeletons to form rapid protrusions, a mechanism vital for immune defense and other cellular processes.
The findings have been published in "Nature Structural & Molecular Biology".
The study explains how white blood cells, for example, generate flat extensions within microseconds to move toward pathogens. This shape-shifting ability depends on a dense actin network near the cell membrane.
Researchers led by Dr Saikat Chowdhury found that a protein called "SPIN90", working as a dimer with the "Arp2/3 complex", initiates the growth of new actin filaments. These filaments, branching at a...