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Stretched skin cells divide without DNA replication

Analysis of zebrafish larvae reveals that epithelial cells in their skin undergo tension-driven division without DNA replication. This allows rapid expansion, enabling the cells to cover the fast-growing organism.
  1. Aki Stubb

    1. Aki Stubb is in the Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00290 Helsinki, Finland.

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  2. Sara A. Wickström

    1. Sara A. Wickström is in the Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00290 Helsinki, Finland.

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Our body and its organs are protected by a physical and biochemical barrier, in the form of an outer lining of epithelial tissue. Given its essential barrier function, it is crucial that this epithelial tissue can rapidly adapt to dynamic changes in the size of the organ or organism, without compromising the epithelial tissue’s structural integrity. Writing in Nature, Chan et al.1 report that a population of surface epithelial cells (SECs) in the skin of zebrafish larvae responds to organismal growth through an atypical mechanism of cell division, which occurs without duplication of the genome.

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Nature 605, 31-32 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00790-4

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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