Smoking inhibits cell motility

Second-hand smoke reduces fibroblast motility, but increases cell survival

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

Exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke has been linked to numerous health problems, including poor wound healing, but the underlying molecular mechanisms have remained unclear. Research in the April 5 BMC Cell Biology—published by a partner with The Scientist—suggests that poor wound healing may be the result of the effect of second-hand smoke on fibroblasts, with the cells showing decreased motility, but increased survival.

“This has the possibility of being a quite important paper,” said Richard Robbins, from the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Phoenix. “The concept that smoke increases fibroblast survival is very appealing, since smoke-induced lung injury is a mixture of both injury and repair [fibrosis],” said Robbins, who was not involved in the study.

“It is known that people exposed to cigarette smoke suffer from impaired healing,” said Manuela Martins-Green, from the University of California, Riverside, and senior author of the study. “We were interested in ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • David Secko

    This person does not yet have a bio.
Share
May digest 2025 cover
May 2025, Issue 1

Study Confirms Safety of Genetically Modified T Cells

A long-term study of nearly 800 patients demonstrated a strong safety profile for T cells engineered with viral vectors.

View this Issue
iStock

TaqMan Probe & Assays: Unveil What's Possible Together

Thermo Fisher Logo
Meet Aunty and Tackle Protein Stability Questions in Research and Development

Meet Aunty and Tackle Protein Stability Questions in Research and Development

Unchained Labs
Detecting Residual Cell Line-Derived DNA with Droplet Digital PCR

Detecting Residual Cell Line-Derived DNA with Droplet Digital PCR

Bio-Rad
How technology makes PCR instruments easier to use.

Making Real-Time PCR More Straightforward

Thermo Fisher Logo

Products

The Scientist Placeholder Image

Biotium Launches New Phalloidin Conjugates with Extended F-actin Staining Stability for Greater Imaging Flexibility

Leica Microsystems Logo

Latest AI software simplifies image analysis and speeds up insights for scientists

BioSkryb Genomics Logo

BioSkryb Genomics and Tecan introduce a single-cell multiomics workflow for sequencing-ready libraries in under ten hours

iStock

Agilent BioTek Cytation C10 Confocal Imaging Reader

agilent technologies logo