Tube Construction

The art of origami can turn a simple sheet of paper into a beautiful bird. Substitute paper for cells and a developing embryo creates an entire nervous system. During development a sheet of cells rolls up and fuses together to form a tube, the neural tube, which goes on to become the brain and spinal cord. As the tube takes shape, cells at the edges of the sheet reach out towards each other using protrusions called filopodia and ruffles. This is seen here in a mouse embryo using electron microscopy. Researchers asked whether these protrusions are essential for neural tube formation. Mutant mice lacking the proteins needed to make these protrusions were unable to complete closure of the tube, resulting in neural tube defects. In humans, one in every thousand babies are born with such defects, including spina bifida. These findings hint at what might be going wrong.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Lux Fatimathas

Writer

Having pursued science through a career in research, communications and publishing, she is currently a writer and editor for a healthcare marketing agency and also juggles freelance science writing.

• Image from work by Ana Rolo and colleagues
• University College London, UK
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, April 2016