Mon Sep 15 19:26:23 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a news article based on the provided text, mimicking the style and focus of The Hindu:
**Hyderabad Scientists Uncover Cellular Secret to Fighting Disease and Healing Wounds**
**Hyderabad, September 16, 2025:** Scientists at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad have made a groundbreaking discovery regarding the way cells adapt their internal structure to form protrusions, crucial for fighting pathogens, healing wounds, and driving key biological processes like immune responses and cancer progression.
The research, led by Dr. Saikat Chowdhury, unveils the pivotal role of a protein called SPIN90 in regulating the formation of new actin meshworks within cells. These actin networks, located near the cell membrane, determine a cell’s shape and its ability to push against the membrane to create protrusions.
Using the advanced cryogenic electron microscope facility at CCMB, Dr. Chowdhury and PhD scholar Justus Francis observed that SPIN90 functions as a dimer, working in conjunction with the Arp2/3 protein complex. This collaboration allows protrusions to form in multiple directions, effectively reshaping the cell and enabling it to respond to its environment.
“This process helps us understand how cells remodel themselves in both health and disease,” explained Francis, the first author of the study, published in the prestigious journal *Nature Structural & Molecular Biology*. “We were able to observe SPIN90’s action at nearly atomic resolution, which revealed the precise mechanism controlling how mammalian cells too divide and function from early stages.”
The discovery has significant implications for understanding fundamental cellular processes and potentially opening new avenues for developing therapies targeting diseases where cell shape and movement play a critical role, such as cancer and autoimmune disorders. The research underscores the continued importance of fundamental research in Hyderabad’s leading scientific institutions.
First Piper 