近日,，在即將發(fā)表在EPJ E雜志上的一項最新研究稱，法國巴黎居里研究所的物理學家已經(jīng)證明細胞薄層與基底接觸類似于薄液體或彈性薄膜,。了解其中薄層細胞成脫節(jié)分裂的機制，對從而打破基底層的結構完整性有重大意義,。開發(fā)研究液體的模型用來研究細胞組織機制,，這可能會進一步了解我們胚胎發(fā)育和癌癥。
由于蜂窩層和薄液膜這一很好理解的比喻,，科學家Stéphane Douezan和弗朗索瓦Françoise Brochard-Nyart設計出基地層的演化模型,。他們將其作為一個積極的、無定形材料制成的連續(xù)細胞,。因為它受到臨近細胞,、細胞和細胞基質粘附的不斷競爭，它或可以保持結構的連續(xù)或中斷,。
研究人員探究基底層的穩(wěn)定時,，受到化學和物理干擾。但研究人員觀察到細胞層破裂導致細胞補丁穿插細胞群之間時的去濕現(xiàn)象,。去濕通常是在濕滑路面上的粘性聚合物薄膜中觀察到,。他們認為去濕現(xiàn)象是由于細胞的獨特的敏感性及其底物的性質，特別是其剛度的下降所影響的,。(生物谷：Bioon.com）
doi:10.1140/epje/i2012-12034-9
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Dewetting of cellular monolayers
Douezan S., Brochard-Wyart F.
In a study about to be published in The European Physical Journal E, French physicists from the Curie Institute in Paris have demonstrated that the behaviour of a thin layer of cells in contact with an unfavourable substrate is akin to that of thin fluid or elastic films. Understanding the mechanism by which a thin layer of cells splits into disjointed patches, thus breaking the layer's structural integrity, bears great significance because the human tissue, or epithelium, covering organs can only fulfil its role if there are no holes or gaps between the cells.
Thanks to the analogy between the cellular layer examined and the well-understood behaviour of thin liquid films, the scientists Stéphane Douezan and Françoise Brochard-Nyart devised a model of the layer's evolution. They considered it as an active, amorphous material made of a continuum of cells. Because it is subject to a constant competition between neighbouring cell-cell and cell-substrate adhesion, it can either maintain its contiguous structure or break.
The authors investigated the layer's stability when subjected to chemical and physical disturbances. In particular, they scrutinised how the cellular layer reacted to a non-adhesive substrate with little chemical affinity with the cells. They also subjected the cells to a physical disturbance by laying them in substrates with low stiffness, such as soft gels.
The researchers observed what is known as the dewetting phenomenon, whereby the cellular layer is ruptured leading to islands of cells interspersed with dry patches. Dewetting is normally observed in viscous polymer films on slippery surfaces. They concluded that the dewetting phenomenon is due to the cells' distinctive sensitivity to the nature of its substrate, particularly to its decreased stiffness. This means that active, living cells remain governed by the laws of physics.
