Figure 6. Cell‐cell communication in modulated SMCs .

A, an example of a TNT‐like structure (white arrow) connecting a tracked PV SMC (red arrow) to a nearby non‐SMC (blue arrow). B (102h53–106h07), a subcellular structure (yellow arrow, 102h53) extruded by a tracked colonic SMC (red arrow). This extruded structure subsequently interacts with the daughter cell of a nearby dividing cell (blue arrow). The white dot in the first image (102h53) corresponds to the centre of the 103h44 image, which shows one of the cells interacting with the extruded structure. The extruded structure subsequently fragments into two parts (yellow arrows 104h18). After this fragmentation, the daughter cell casts off both fragments (106h07, where the larger fragment remains connected to the cell by a TNT‐like structure) before it migrates onwards. The larger of the two fragments is eventually engulfed by another cell. A second example of a SMC TNT can also be seen at 104h18 (white arrow). C, an example of extrusion from a tracked colonic SMC (red arrow) of a larger, microplast‐like cell fragment (yellow arrow). The fluorescent images show mitochondrial staining with TMRE and demonstrate that the extruded fragment contains a number of polarised mitochondria. The SMC did not round up prior to pinching off this cellular fragment; rather it underwent a series of strong contractions. Following extrusion, no overall movement of the fragment was observed during the following 56 h, after which the fragment was picked up and carried off by another cell. All scale bars are 25 μm.