The 76th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society for Cell Biology

Organizers:Takanari Inoue(Johns Hopkins University), Shiro Suetsugu(Nara Institute of Science and Technology)

Cell surface is never flat. It is rather a place enriched with various types of dents and bumps. The ones extending outward include microvilli, filopodia, blebs, spines, and cilia, to name a few. These cellular protrusions have been long thought to play a role in cell functions that require the sensation of environmental cues and/or generation of driving force to move forward. However, recent findings unexpectedly revealed their prevailing roles in cell-to-cell communications. For example, intercellular transfers of biomolecules are achieved through tunneling nanotubes of stem cells, as well as through extracellular vesicles released from cilia, microvilli, and filopodia of epithelial cells and fibroblasts. Collectively, cellular protrusions have to be revisited and redefined as structures responsible for dynamic cell-to-cell communications. In this symposium, we will broadly cover the latest exciting studies on a variety of cell protrusions and membrane structures, aiming to unravel their similarities and differences, and through this effort, we will naturally conclude what cellular protrusions are for in biology.