Ma Jiayue, Yu Honglin, Yao Shuo, Yan Yan, Gu Zhaoyu, Wang Ziqi, Huang Hai, Chen Di
Center for Reproductive Medicine of The Second Affiliated Hospital, Center for Regeneration and Cell Therapy of Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Institute (ZJU-UoE Institute), Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310003, Zhejiang, China.
Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Cell Commun Signal. 2025 May 25;23(1):241. doi: 10.1186/s12964-025-02229-5.
Cellular communication is a cornerstone of metazoan development, orchestrating cell behavior, differentiation, and tissue formation. Morphogens, key signaling molecules for patterning tissue architecture, are traditionally thought to act through diffusion or endocytosis but struggle to explain precise long-range gradient formation in complex tissues. The discovery of cytonemes, specialized actin-based membrane extensions, has introduced a novel mechanism for direct intercellular signaling. Their dynamic structure allows for long-range signaling, ensuring specificity and accuracy in morphogen delivery, which is essential for proper tissue patterning and cell differentiation. In this review, we summarize the latest advances of cytoneme research across different model organisms by focusing on the regulatory mechanisms and functional roles in stem cells and developmental disorders. We establish cytonemes as fundamental mediators of intercellular communication and emphasize their pivotal roles in developmental biology and potential implications in regenerative medicine and cancer therapy.
细胞通讯是后生动物发育的基石，协调细胞行为、分化和组织形成。形态发生素是组织架构模式形成的关键信号分子，传统上认为其通过扩散或内吞作用发挥作用，但难以解释复杂组织中精确的长距离梯度形成。细胞丝（cytonemes）的发现，即基于肌动蛋白的特殊膜延伸结构，引入了一种直接细胞间信号传导的新机制。它们的动态结构允许进行长距离信号传导，确保形态发生素传递的特异性和准确性，这对于正确的组织模式形成和细胞分化至关重要。在这篇综述中，我们通过关注干细胞和发育障碍中的调控机制和功能作用，总结了不同模式生物中细胞丝研究的最新进展。我们将细胞丝确立为细胞间通讯的基本介质，并强调它们在发育生物学中的关键作用以及在再生医学和癌症治疗中的潜在影响。
