Even miniscule changes in environment can cause cytoskeleton of the amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum to oscillate
Thursday, March 21, 2013 - 07:00
in Biology & Nature
(Phys.org) —The amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is the "favourite animal" for many biologists and some physicists: the unicellular organism, which usually lives in the soil, serves as a model for a very wide range of cells, which are able to change their shape or move as soon as they sense changes in the chemical concentrations of their surroundings. Examples of such cells include cancer cells, embryonic stem cells at a very early stage in their development, and cells involved in wound healing. Scientists are now fascinated by a formerly unknown characteristic of this amoeba: it oscillates internally at a 20-second interval. Within this period, the cytoskeleton, which gives the cell its internal stability, can reorganise itself.