A railroad of cells: Computer simulations explain cell movement
Originally published by the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, on June 19, 2024 Snapshots of the cell railroad. Cells stretch away from a fish scale (left) into artificial lanes (red) and form trains (middle) in different sizes (right). Credit: Vercurysse, Brückner et al./Nature Physics Looking under the microscope, a group of cells slowly moves forward in a line, like a train on the tracks . The cells navigate through complex environments. A new approach by researchers involving the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) now shows how they do this and how they interact with each other . The experimental observations and the following mathematical concept are published in Nature Physics . The majority of the cells in the human body cannot move . Some specific ones , however, can go to different places . For example, in wound healing, cells move through the body to repair damaged tissue . They sometimes travel alone o r in different group sizes. Althou