Ready for Actin

Racing to the scene of an infection, immune cells like macrophages need to move through crowded tissues. How do they manage this without getting squished? Researchers studying macrophages in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) find a protein called FOS helps to strengthen each cell’s internal skeleton, creating a ‘tank-like’ shell of actin fibres which cushions the fragile nucleus as the cells push into the tissue. Here macrophages (highlighted in green) spread into (unseen here) embryos under a high-powered microscope – cells with impaired FOS (right) have a weaker protective shell and move more slowly. Humans have similar macrophages and, researchers believe, similar tank-building FOS genes. The new challenge is to support FOS in strengthening our immune cells when invading tumours as a form of cancer immunotherapy.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

Writer

A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Video from work by Vera Belyaeva, Stephanie Wachner, Attila Gyoergy, Igor Gridchyn & Maria Akhmanova, and colleagues
• Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Klosterneuburg, Austria
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS Biology, January 2022