Scientists are beginning to realize that many cellular behaviors, such as metastasizing cancer cells moving through the body or wound healing, aren’t random events, but the result of coordinated actions by cells.
Such collective cell movement requires communication, and a new study shows that cells are most effective at communication when they aren’t tightly packed together. This was a surprise, says Andrew Mugler, a Purdue University assistant professor of physics and astronomy who studies cell behavior.
“Our hypothesis was proven wrong,” Mugler says. “Our hypothesis was that cells that are closer to each other should experience a sensory improvement. Instead, we found that long-range communication was better, even though it meant that cells had to be receiving weaker communication signals.”
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