Nuclear morphology is shaped by loop-extrusion programs. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38355805/)

These scientists wanted to understand how certain cells in our body, called neutrophils, change their shape to move through tight spaces in our tissues. They discovered that in the early stages of these neutrophil cells, a process called loop extrusion helps in shaping the DNA inside the cells. They found that when they stopped this process in the cells, it caused the DNA to form different shapes like horseshoes and rings, similar to how it looks in mature neutrophil cells.

By studying this, the scientists learned that this process also affects how the cells grow and develop. They found that stopping the loop extrusion process made the cells stop growing and start behaving like mature neutrophils. This research could help us understand more about how cells develop and potentially even help in creating new ways to change cell shapes for medical purposes.

Patta I., Zand M., Lee L., Mishra S., Bortnick A., Lu H., Prusty A., McArdle S., Mikulski Z., Wang HY., Cheng CS., Fisch KM., Hu M., Murre C. Nuclear morphology is shaped by loop-extrusion programs. Nature. 2024 Feb 14. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07086-9.