Press Release
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Press Release The cell that isn’t New technique captures division of membrane-less cells Heidelberg, 17 January 2013 – This may look like yet another video of a dividing cell, but there’s a catch. You are looking at chromosomes (red) being pulled apart by the mitotic spindle (green), but it’s not a cell, because there’s no cell membrane. Like a child sucking an egg out of its shell, Ivo Telley from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, removed these cellular ‘innards’ from a fruit fly embryo, at a stage when it is essentially a sac full of membrane-less ‘cells’ that divide and divide without building physical barriers to separate themselves from each other. “It’s the first time we can study ongoing cell division without the cell membrane, and that means we can physically manipulate things,” says Telley, “so we can uncover the physical forces involved, and see what are the constraints.” New technique captures division of membrane-less cells - red: chromosomes, green: spindles - The new technique is described in detail today in Nature The full video is available on the EMBL website Protocols, and has already led Telley and colleagues to a Credit: Ivo Telley/EMBL surprising discovery. They found that, although successive divisions fill the embryo with more and more material, leaving less and less space for each spindle, and spindles become new technique will help to unravel this and other mysteries of smaller as the embryo develops, simply squeezing the ‘cell’ into how a cell becomes two. tighter quarters doesn’t make it produce a smaller spindle. The work, which started in Thomas Surrey’s lab at EMBL, was Combined with the genetic manipulation approaches carried out by Telley and Imre Gáspár in Anne Ephrussi’s lab at commonly used in fruit fly studies, the scientists believe their EMBL. Surrey is now at Cancer Research UK. Source Article A single Drosophila embryo extract for the study of mitosis ex vivo. Telley, I.A., Gáspár, I., Ephrussi, A. & Surrey, T. - Nature Protocols, Advanced online publication on 17 January 2013 - DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2013.003 Contact: Isabelle Kling, EMBL Communication Officer, Heidelberg, Germany, Tel: +49 6221 387 8355, www.embl.org, [email protected] Lena Raditsch, EMBL Head of communications, Heidelberg, Germany, Tel: +49 6221 387 8125, www.embl.org, [email protected] About EMBL The European Molecular Biology Laboratory is a basic research institute funded by public research monies from 20 member states (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) and associate member state Australia. Research at EMBL is conducted by approximately 85 independent groups covering the spectrum of molecular biology. The Laboratory has five units: the main Laboratory in Heidelberg, and Outstations in Hinxton (the European Bioinformatics Institute), Grenoble, Hamburg, and Monterotondo near Rome. The cornerstones of EMBL’s mission are: to perform basic research in molecular biology; to train scientists, students and visitors at all levels; to offer vital services to scientists in the member states; to develop new instruments and methods in the life sciences and to actively engage in technology transfer activities. Around 190 students are enrolled in EMBL’s International PhD programme. Additionally, the Laboratory offers a platform for dialogue with the general public through various science communication activities such as lecture series, visitor programmes and the dissemination of scientific achievements. Policy regarding use EMBL press and picture releases, including photographs, graphics and videos, are copyrighted by EMBL. They may be freely reprinted and distributed for non-commercial use via print, broadcast and electronic media, provided that proper attribution to authors, photographers and designers is made. High-resolution copies of the images can be downloaded from the EMBL web site: www.embl.org.