Scientists discover “electric spiking” communication in previously thought to be mute cells, paving the way for bioelectric innovations.
For years, scientists believed that only nerve and heart cells relied on electrical impulses for communication, while epithelial cells, which form the linings of the skin, organs, and body cavities, were thought to be passive barriers, primarily absorbing and secreting substances. However, researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst have challenged this assumption, demonstrating that epithelial cells do, in fact, communicate through slow electrical signals.
The study, led by Steve Granick, Robert K. Barrett Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering, and postdoctoral fellow Sun-Min Yu, was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Their findings could pave the way for advancements in wearable bioelectric sensors, wound healing, and other biomedical applications.
“Epithelial cells do things that no one has ever thought to look for,” says Granick. “When injured, they ‘scream’ to their neighbors, slowly, persistently, and over surprising distances. It’s like a nerve’s impulse, but 1,000 times slower.” His team’s curiosity-driven approach, blending polymer science and biology, unveiled this hidden cellular signaling.
Granick and Yu used an epithelial-cell-coated chip with 60 precisely placed electrodes to eavesdrop. Yu, a cell-culture expert, grew a single layer of human epithelial cells on the chip, which detected minute electric shifts.
Observing Cellular Communication in Action
Using a precise laser to produce “sting” patterns of individual cells, they watched as signals rippled outward. “We tracked how cells coordinated their response,” Yu explained. “It’s a slow-motion, excited conversation.”
Unlike the swift neurotransmitter bursts of nerve cells, epithelial cells rely on ion flows — of calcium, especially — that produce signals that are far slower than those in nerve cells, but with similar voltages. These signals can be long-lived: Granick and Yu observed cells that “talked” for over five hours across distances nearly 40 times their own length.
Though Granick and Yu showed that calcium ions are necessary for epithelial conversation, they have yet to test what else might contribute to the conversation. And though the immediate applications of their new discovery remain to be seen, the implications are vast.
“Wearable sensors, implantable devices, and faster wound healing could grow from this,” Granick noted. “Understanding these screams between wounded cells opens doors we didn’t know existed,” Yu added.
Reference: “Electric spiking activity in epithelial cells” by Sun-Min Yu and Steve Granick, 17 March 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2427123122
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