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BIG IDEA
IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE
Cancer cells are normal cells that go awry
because of bad developmental decisions
during their lives. By studying the fruit fly’s
eye, Northwestern researchers have gained
insight into how developing cells switch
to a specialized state and how this process might go wrong in cancer.
The fruit fly’s eye (pictured above) is an
intricate pattern of many different specialized cells, such as light-sensing neurons
and cone cells. Led by Northwestern
Engineering’s Luís A.N. Amaral and biologist
Richard W. Carthew, a multidisciplinary
research team discovered that the levels
of an important protein, called Yan, fluctuate wildly when a cell is switching from a
more primitive state to a more specialized
state. If the levels do not or cannot
fluctuate, the cell does not switch and
become more specialized.
the research team can provide targets
for scientists studying how cells can lose
control and transform into cancer cells.
“Studying the dynamics of molecules
regulating fly-eye patterning can inform
us about human disease,” said Nicolás
Peláez, first author of the study and
The researchers also found that a molecular
a PhD candidate working with Amaral
signal received by a cell receptor, called
and Carthew. “Using model organisms
EGFR , is important for turning off the fluctu- such as fruit flies will help us underations, or noise. If that signal is not received, stand quantitatively the basic biological
the cell remains in an uncontrolled state. By
principles governing differentiation
pinpointing this noise and its “off” switch,
in complex animals.”