How do cells communicate? Cells use different languages to communicate with each other, while they can also vary the volume or duration of these signals to send information, which ultimately affects the fate and behaviour of cells. We spoke to Dr Katharina Sonnen and Sonja Weterings about their work in using new technologies to investigate how cells talk to each other, which could open up new therapeutics avenues in future. The fields of developmental biology and
Cell signalling
adult tissue homeostasis have traditionally been viewed as separate, with scientists tending to communicate primarily with peers in their own area of research. However, similar cell signalling processes are involved in development and tissue maintenance. “There are certain principles in an adult organism that control whether a cell duplicates, or whether it becomes a muscle cell or a skin cell for example. These principles also apply in development, which starts with a single cell, which then makes the whole organism,” explains Dr Katharina Sonnen, Group Leader in the Sonnen Lab at the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht. The focus in Dr Sonnen’s lab is on investigating the underlying basis of cell signalling, using new technologies to build a fuller picture. “Improved microscopes allow us to visualise cell-cell communications within tissue, in a dish. There are also technologies now to change or modify cell signals, which allow us to decode cell-cell communication,” she outlines.
As the head of the laboratory, Dr Sonnen is now working to gain deeper insights into cell signalling pathways and the transmission of biological information, using two model systems. The first of these model systems is somitogenesis, a phase of embryonic development. “In this phase the vertebrae are formed in a step-wise way, while several different organs form at the same
simplified model of the small intestine,” outlines Sonja Weterings, a PhD student in the lab. “We dissect the small intestine of a mouse and then grow these cells as mini-guts in a dish, which we then use in our research into cell signalling.” A variety of different techniques are being used in this research to visualize and investigate the mode-of-action of cell-cell communication, one of which is fluorescence real-time
We’ve seen that cell communication in the embryo is dynamic, and we want to understand how it works. What is really going
on? How does it control cell proliferation? And is the mechanism similar in adult tissues? time,” says Dr Sonnen. A second model system that Dr Sonnen and her colleagues in the group are using is a novel model of the small intestine, an organ in which there is a regular turnover of different types of cells throughout adult-life. “In the lab, we can make little organs in a dish called organoids. We make use of what is essentially a
imaging. Cells are fluorescently labelled, then researchers can follow these coloured cells using a microscope which can effectively zoom in to look at single cells. “This also allows us to record the communication between cells. We can get cells to produce a colour when another cell talks to it. So a cell receives a signal – from
Figure 1: Study of signalling dynamics in embryonic development and tissue homeostasis.
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