How unfit cells are extruded from epithelial tissues

Atieh et al. study apoptotic extrusion of damaged cells in zebrafish larvae, a process that maintains epithelium homeostasis. They find that caspase activation induces pulsatile contractions via the actin-myosin network, generating localized physical forces that remove defective cells. F-actin is labelled in green. MTZ: a prodrug converted into poison by a bacteria enzyme labelled in magenta. Cytochalasin: an inhibitor of actin polymerization Check out the paper at (20)31825-X Atieh, Y., Wyatt, T., Zaske, A.M., and Eisenhoffer, G.T. (2021). Pulsatile contractions promote apoptotic cell extrusion in epithelial tissues. Curr Bio. 31. For the best videos from Cell Press, visit