Cell Architects Symposium 2010

Pioneers in cell biology gathered on May 18th at EMBL, Heidelberg

for the first international meeting on Adhesive Micropattern Technology and Applications

The Cell Architects Symposium, co-organized by EMBL and CYTOO on May 18th, was an overwhelming success in both attendance and scientific content. This inaugural event brought together a group of more than 60 pioneering scientists who shared perspectives on the use of micropattern technology. Participants ranged from those interested in cell motility, aiming at a better characterization of the role of various organelles in the definition of cell polarity, to those developing methods for rigorous quantification of the cell-wide global organization of secretory endomembranes or that of mitochondria, both in normal and pathological primary cells. The discussion also focused on the use of micropatterns to perform highly controlled cell mechanics, aiming at understanding how local cell responses can be integrated in a global behavior or to allow reproducible laser-microsurgery of cells in order to study the biogenesis of organelles. We also learned how spatially controlled enzymology can be done in cell-free assays, by controlling the positioning of nucleating complex for polymers assembly, and thus revealing collective behaviour of polymers that are otherwise untractable. At the end of the day, the question without response was more to decide if there was a single good reason for growing adherent cells in culture without controlling the boundary conditions of adhesion. The rapid development of micro-engeneering techniques and the cumulative progresses achieved in a growing number of laboratories should lead to much excitement ahead and a very rich second Cell Architects Symposium in 2011.

Michel Bornens