Date:October 13, 2015
Source:University of California - Davis
Summary:
A variety of animals are able to sense and react to electric fields, and living human cells will move along an electric field, for example in wound healing. Now researchers have found the first actual 'sensor mechanism' that allows a living cell detect an electric field.
A research team has found the first actual "sensor mechanism" that allows a living cell detect an electric field
(stock image).
Credit: © Sergey Nivens / Fotolia
A variety of animals are able to sense and react to electric fields, and living human cells will move along an
electric field, for example in wound healing. Now a team lead by Min Zhao at the UC Davis Institute for
Regenerative Cures has found the first actual "sensor mechanism" that allows a living cell detect an electric
field. The work is published Oct. 9 in the journal Nature Communications.
"We believe there are several types of sensing mechanisms, and none of them are known. We now provide experimental
evidence to suggest one which has not been even hypothesized before, a two-molecule sensing mechanism," Zhao said.
Zhao and colleagues have been studying these "electric senses" in cells from both larger animals (fish skin cells,
human cell lines) and in the soil-dwelling amoeba Dictyostelium. By knocking out some genes in Dictyostelium, they
previously identified some of the genes and proteins that allow the amoeba to move in a certain direction when
exposed to an electric field.
In the new work, carried out in a human cell line, they found that two elements, a protein called Kir4.2 (made by
gene KCNJ15) and molecules within the cell called polyamines, were needed for signaling to occur. Kir4.2 is a
potassium channel -- it forms a pore through the cell membrane that allows potassium ions to enter the cell. Such
ion channels are often involved in transmitting signals into cells. Polyamines are molecules within the cell that
carry a positive charge.
Zhao and colleagues found that when the cells were in an electric field, the positively-charged polyamines tend to
accumulate at the side of the cell near the negative electrode. The polyamines bind to the Kir4.2 potassium
channel, and regulate its activity.
He cautioned that they do not yet have definitive evidence of how "switching" of the potassium channel by
polyamines translates into directional movement by the cell.
Story Source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Davis. Note: Materials may be
edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
Ken-ichi Nakajima, Kan Zhu, Yao-Hui Sun, Bence Hegyi, Qunli Zeng, Christopher J. Murphy, J. Victor Small, Ye
Chen-Izu, Yoshihiro Izumiya, Josef M. Penninger, Min Zhao. KCNJ15/Kir4.2 couples with polyamines to sense weak
extracellular electric fields in galvanotaxis. Nature Communications, 2015; 6: 8532 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9532
Source:University of California - Davis
Summary:
A variety of animals are able to sense and react to electric fields, and living human cells will move along an electric field, for example in wound healing. Now researchers have found the first actual 'sensor mechanism' that allows a living cell detect an electric field.
(stock image).
Credit: © Sergey Nivens / Fotolia
A variety of animals are able to sense and react to electric fields, and living human cells will move along an
electric field, for example in wound healing. Now a team lead by Min Zhao at the UC Davis Institute for
Regenerative Cures has found the first actual "sensor mechanism" that allows a living cell detect an electric
field. The work is published Oct. 9 in the journal Nature Communications.
"We believe there are several types of sensing mechanisms, and none of them are known. We now provide experimental
evidence to suggest one which has not been even hypothesized before, a two-molecule sensing mechanism," Zhao said.
Zhao and colleagues have been studying these "electric senses" in cells from both larger animals (fish skin cells,
human cell lines) and in the soil-dwelling amoeba Dictyostelium. By knocking out some genes in Dictyostelium, they
previously identified some of the genes and proteins that allow the amoeba to move in a certain direction when
exposed to an electric field.
In the new work, carried out in a human cell line, they found that two elements, a protein called Kir4.2 (made by
gene KCNJ15) and molecules within the cell called polyamines, were needed for signaling to occur. Kir4.2 is a
potassium channel -- it forms a pore through the cell membrane that allows potassium ions to enter the cell. Such
ion channels are often involved in transmitting signals into cells. Polyamines are molecules within the cell that
carry a positive charge.
Zhao and colleagues found that when the cells were in an electric field, the positively-charged polyamines tend to
accumulate at the side of the cell near the negative electrode. The polyamines bind to the Kir4.2 potassium
channel, and regulate its activity.
He cautioned that they do not yet have definitive evidence of how "switching" of the potassium channel by
polyamines translates into directional movement by the cell.
Story Source:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Davis. Note: Materials may be
edited for content and length.
Journal Reference:
Ken-ichi Nakajima, Kan Zhu, Yao-Hui Sun, Bence Hegyi, Qunli Zeng, Christopher J. Murphy, J. Victor Small, Ye
Chen-Izu, Yoshihiro Izumiya, Josef M. Penninger, Min Zhao. KCNJ15/Kir4.2 couples with polyamines to sense weak
extracellular electric fields in galvanotaxis. Nature Communications, 2015; 6: 8532 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9532
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