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‘Memory foam’ skeleton in cells helps them to navigate

Cells change shape to move efficiently in a range of spatial environments. This response can be informed by the cell’s memory of past deformation.
By
  1. Joseph d’Alessandro

    1. Joseph d’Alessandro is in the Jacques Monod Institute, Paris Cité University and CNRS, Paris 75013, France.

  2. Mélina L. Heuzé

    1. Mélina L. Heuzé is in the Jacques Monod Institute, Paris Cité University and CNRS, Paris 75013, France.

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The body is not an easy environment for cells to navigate. From immune cells patrolling for microbes to embryonic cells migrating to the sites where organs will form, and even cancer cells invading tissue, performing their functions means traversing a complex space of tangled meshworks, narrow tunnels and large obstacles. It is established that cells change shape to adapt to various environments but, writing in Nature Physics, Kalukula et al.1 report that cells can also retain a memory of past deformation. The researchers demonstrate, using experimental and theoretical models, that this memory is encoded in the cytoskeleton of each cell (the protein scaffold that gives it its shape), and that it supports efficient cell migration in non-uniform environments.

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Nature 647, 42-44 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03448-z

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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