A new study in iScience integrated mathematical modeling with advanced imaging to discover that the physical shape of the fruit fly egg chamber, combined with chemical signals, significantly influences how cells move. Cell migration is critical in wound healing, immune responses, and cancer metastasis, so the work has potential to advance a range of medical treatments. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that actively considers the role of both chemical and structural signals in cell migration.

How do we think, feel, remember, or move? It all depends on transmission of chemical signals in the brain, carried and released by molecular containers called vesicles. In a new collaborative study, published in Science Advances, researchers in Japan and Germany have modeled the vesicle cycle in unprecedented detail, revealing new information about the way our brains function.

The paper describes an advanced computational model, which considers the complex interplay of vesicles, their cellular environments, activities and interactions, to predict vesicle behavior under different conditions.

“Technological advances have enabled experimental scientists to capture more and more data. The challenge lies in integrating and interpreting different data types, to understand the complexities of the brain,” said Professor Erik De Schutter, head of the OIST Computational Neuroscience Unit and co-author on this study. “Our model provides better detail of the vesicle cycle, and much faster, than any other systems before. And it’s transferable to different cells and scenarios too. It’s a significant leap forward towards scientific aspirations of full cell and full tissue simulation.”

Many bat species native to Germany, such as the Leisler's bat, are forest specialists. However, as it is becoming increasingly hard for them to find tree hollows in forest plantations, so they are moving to settlements instead. Using high-resolution GPS data from bats, a team led by scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) has analysed in greater detail than ever before how Leisler's bats use their habitats, which tree species they look for when searching a roost, and which forest types they avoid. They found that these bats increasingly seek refuge in old trees in urban areas and in old buildings such as churches. In an article published in the “Journal of Environmental Management”, the team calls for stronger efforts to preserve these alternative roosts in settlements, as well as for ecologically sustainable forestry that protects old trees and promotes structurally rich forests.