Proteins help cells migrate to developing tissues

MADISON, Wis., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Scientists have discovered a protein vital to intercalation, the stretching and growth of developing tissue.

According to a new study in the journal PLOS Genetics, the protein CDC-42 GTPase helps cells maintain their bearings as they make their way to growing tissue during the embryonic development stage.

Until now, scientists had struggled to observe the work of CDC-42. Most monitoring techniques run the risk of interfering with the protein's functionality and thus disrupting embryonic development.

To get around this problem, scientists designed a form of CDC-42 that would interfere with natural CDC-42 GTPase proteins, but only in skin cells and at higher temperatures. The technique allowed scientists to measure the importance of the novel protein during intercalation.

The experiments showed CDC-42 GTPase plays an important role in orienting cells during cellular rearrangement, an important aspect of tissue growth.

"The orderly choreography that these rearranging cells engage in is really quite remarkable, but until now we've been unable to study it in detail," researcher Jeff Hardin, a geneticist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in a news release. "We are excited to study the earlier events that lead these cells to become polarized, and the subsequent steps that allow them to carry out this amazing cellular dance."