ABOVE: Trichoplax adhaerens has no muscles or neurons and no defined shape but still manages coordinated movement.
CREDIT: MANU PRAKASH
Most animals rely on changes in cell shape to move tissues around during development, but these alterations are usually slow and are rare in adult animals. In a case of extreme exception described in October in PNAS, the adult marine invertebrate Trichoplax adhaerens, a critter in the shape of a smashed wad of chewing gum no bigger than a piece of lint, consistently contracts and relaxes the cells on the top of its body at speeds nearly 10 times faster than ever before observed in an animal. Researchers discussed the published work, as well as ongoing studies into the purpose of the super fast cellular contractions, in three presentations at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) annual meeting in San Diego this week.
It’s “astonishing” that a cell can contract ...
