[NCTS Physics Research Highlights] Chao-Ping Hsu 'A Novel type of cell division', Nature 605, 119-125 (2022)

[NCTS Physics Research Highlights] Chao-Ping Hsu 'A Novel type of cell division', Nature 605, 119-125 (2022)

一種新型的細胞分裂
A Novel type of cell division

Keat Ying Chan, Ching-Cher Sanders Yan, Hsiao-Yuh Roan, Shao-Chun Hsu, Tzu-Lun Tseng, Chung-Der Hsiao, Chao-Ping Hsu*, Chen-Hui Chen
Nature 605, 119-125 (2022)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04641-0

長久以來科學家認為細胞分裂的方式只有「有絲分裂」與「減數分裂」兩種。研究團隊在斑馬魚最表層的皮膚細胞上發現了另一種獨特細胞分裂的方式:在沒有DNA複製的情況下,一個母細胞可以分裂兩次,產生4個較小,但覆蓋面積較大的子細胞。為了確立這個現象,研究團隊提出一個簡單的數學模型,在細胞的形狀沒有太大的變化的情況之下,兩次分裂可以增加接近60%的覆蓋面積,也很接近實驗觀察的結果。這很可能是斑馬魚幼魚在特定的發育階段,在資源有限的情況下快速延展表皮細胞的應急策略。

The research team discovered a new type of cell division in the outermost skin cells of zebrafish, named Asynthetic fission. In the absence of DNA replication, a mother cell can divide twice,  covering a larger area. The team proposed a simple mathematical model. Under the condition that the shape of the cells does not change much, the successive two asynthetic fission can increase the coverage area by nearly 60%, which is also very close to the experimental observations. This newly discovered mechanism is likely to be an strategy for zebrafish larvae to rapidly expand epidermal coverage at a specific developmental stage under limited resources.