A Mechanism for Sensing and Repairing Plasma Membrane Damage

Every cell has a plasma membrane that serves as the critical boundary that protects the intracellular biochemical reactions. Much like skin, which protects the internal organs of a body, the plasma membrane generates a boundary that safeguards all intercellular cellular activities and acts as a signaling platform for many essential biochemical reactions. Consequently, preserving plasma membrane’s integrity and swiftly repairing damage is crucial for cell survival. Prof. Xu’s laboratory uses Caenorhabditis elegans to define how animal cells use signals, lipids, organelles, and other resources to detect and repair damage to their plasma membranes at subcellular and molecular levels.