Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a previously unknown process used by epithelial cells to alleviate epithelial tissue crowding and avoid cell damage and loss, according to a recent ...

More information: Enzo Bresteau et al, Apical size reduction by macropinocytosis alleviates tissue crowding, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60724-2 ...

“Macropinocytosis was shrinking the apical surface because it was using all this membrane to pull in the extracellular material. We thought that maybe this was regulated by the same thing that was ...