近日，美国熨斗研究所的Michael J. Shelley及其研究团队取得一项新进展。经过不懈努力，他们对自组织胞内涡旋过程进行了研究。相关研究成果已于2024年1月25日在国际知名学术期刊《自然—物理学》上发表。

该研究团队将建模与模拟与实时成像技术相结合，对果蝇卵母细胞中的流动进行了深入研究。他们采用了快速、准确且可扩展的数值方法，以研究数千种柔性纤维之间的流体-结构相互作用。通过这一研究，他们成功地揭示了三维细胞几何中细胞跨越涡旋或扭曲的稳定出现和演化过程。这些扭曲流主要表现为近刚体旋转，并伴有次级环面成分，从而再现了各种实验观察结果。在细胞中，这些流动可能与卵胞质成分的快速混合和输运有关。

据悉，在复杂系统中，如城市和有机体，当质量、能量和信息流的全局协调中断时，生命活动可能会陷入停滞。同样，全局协调在单细胞中也是至关重要的，特别是在大卵母细胞和新形成的胚胎中。这些细胞通常利用快速流体流动来动态地重组其细胞质。这些细胞质的流动是由载货分子马达，与皮质锚定微管之间的流体动力学相互作用自发产生的。

附：英文原文

Title: Self-organized intracellular twisters

Author: Dutta, Sayantan, Farhadifar, Reza, Lu, Wen, Kabacaolu, Gokberk, Blackwell, Robert, Stein, David B., Lakonishok, Margot, Gelfand, Vladimir I., Shvartsman, Stanislav Y., Shelley, Michael J.

Issue&Volume: 2024-01-25

Abstract: Life in complex systems, such as cities and organisms, comes to a standstill when global coordination of mass, energy and information flows is disrupted. Global coordination is no less important in single cells, especially in large oocytes and newly formed embryos, which commonly use fast fluid flows for dynamic reorganization of their cytoplasm. These cytoplasmic streaming flows have been proposed to spontaneously arise from hydrodynamic interactions among cortically anchored microtubules loaded with cargo-carrying molecular motors. Here, we combine modelling and simulation with live imaging to investigate such flows in the Drosophila oocyte. Using a fast, accurate and scalable numerical approach to investigate fluid–structure interactions of thousands of flexible fibres, we demonstrate the robust emergence and evolution of cell-spanning vortices—or twisters—in three-dimensional cellular geometries. These twister flows, dominated by a near-rigid-body rotation with secondary toroidal components, reproduce the variety of experimental observations. In cells, these flows are probably involved in rapid mixing and transport of ooplasmic components.

DOI: 10.1038/s41567-023-02372-1

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-023-02372-1