Sculpting an Embryo: The Interplay between Mechanical Force and Cell Division.

The journey from a single fertilised cell to a multicellular organism is, at the most fundamental level, orchestrated by mitotic cell divisions. Both the rate and the orientation of cell divisions are important in ensuring the proper development of an embryo. Simultaneous with cell proliferation, embryonic cells constantly experience a wide range of mechanical forces from their surrounding tissue environment.

Demystifying mRNA vaccines: an emerging platform at the forefront of cryptic diseases.

Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines have been studied for decades, but only recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, has the technology garnered noteworthy attention. In contrast to traditional vaccines, mRNA vaccines elicit a more balanced immune response, triggering both humoral and cellular components of the adaptive immune system. However, some inherent hurdles associated with stability, immunogenicity, delivery, along with the novelty of the technology, have generated scepticism in the adoption of mRNA vaccines.

Generation of anisotropic strain dysregulates wild-type cell division at the interface between host and oncogenic tissue.

Epithelial tissues are highly sensitive to anisotropies in mechanical force, with cells altering fundamental behaviors, such as cell adhesion, migration, and cell division. It is well known that, in the later stages of carcinoma (epithelial cancer), the presence of tumors alters the mechanical properties of a host tissue and that these changes contribute to disease progression. However, in the earliest stages of carcinoma, when a clonal cluster of oncogene-expressing cells first establishes in the epithelium, the extent to which mechanical changes alter cell behavior in the tissue as a whole remains unclear.

RAB13 mRNA compartmentalisation spatially orients tissue morphogenesis.

Polarised targeting of diverse mRNAs to cellular protrusions is a hallmark of cell migration. Although a widespread phenomenon, definitive functions for endogenous targeted mRNAs and their relevance to modulation of in vivo tissue dynamics remain elusive. Here, using single-molecule analysis, gene editing and zebrafish live-cell imaging, we report that mRNA polarisation acts as a molecular compass that orients motile cell polarity and spatially directs tissue movement.

Don't Fence Me In: How Cancer Cells Divide in Crowded Spaces.

Cells in our body have to divide within a defined tissue space, which in tumors is more restricted than in normal tissue. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Matthews et al. (2020) reveal that oncogenic Ras-mediated cell rounding and cortical stiffening promote cell division under confined conditions that are similar to those in tumors.

Applying Tensile and Compressive Force to Animal Cap Tissue.

Over many years, the embryo has provided a powerful model system to investigate how mechanical forces regulate cellular function. Here, we describe a system to apply reproducible tensile and compressive force to animal cap tissue explants and to simultaneously assess cellular behavior using live confocal imaging.