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Stem cells

Voices carry

Nature Chemical Biology (2023)Cite this article

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Analysis of cell–cell communication between embryonic stem cells using a combination of experiments and modeling shows that cells can communicate important messages over much larger distances than previously known, exhibiting quorum-sensing-like behavior.

The signals that cells send and receive via physical interactions, or at a distance via diffusible ligands, are critical for stem-cell fate determination. The indefatigable rise of high-throughput single-cell measurement technologies has offered unprecedented resolution with which to study the connections between cell fates and cell–cell communication1,2; however, predicting which cells are in active communication is a key challenge. In particular, we can measure internal or cell surface proteins, or (nascent) gene expression inside a cell, which may be indicative of signals received by that cell, but the identities of the signal-sending cells remain unclear and difficult to track. To address this critical question, Daneshpour et al.3 combined mathematical modeling with experiments to show that embryonic stem (ES) cells control their fates via communication over distances larger than anyone would have imagined.

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Fig. 1: Embryonic stem-cell quorum sensing during differentiation.

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  1. Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Adam L. MacLean

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  1. Adam L. MacLean
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Correspondence to Adam L. MacLean.

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MacLean, A.L. Voices carry. Nat Chem Biol (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-022-01238-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-022-01238-6

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