Skip to main content
  1. Blog/

Why Soap Makes Cells Go Rogue, The Science of Cell Detachment

·448 words·3 mins

Why Soap Makes Cells Go Rogue: The Science of Cell Detachment
#

Ever wonder what happens when you wash your hands with soap? It’s not just dirt that gets washed away, soap has this amazing ability to break things apart at the molecular level. And it turns out, this same principle works on cells too, which is pretty wild when you think about it.

During my PhD years, I thought a lot about this problem and set up some really innovative experiments to work on this problem. I was working with fruit fly cells, but these protocols also allowed me to think through when i worked with any cell type including muscle cells. Weirdly cancer cells dont have proper adhesion to substrate and therfore easy to dislodge.

So here’s the deal: cells don’t just randomly float around in your body or in a lab dish. They’re actually glued down to whatever surface they’re sitting on (usually known as extra cellular matrix) through these protein anchors called integrins. Think of integrins like tiny molecular velcro strips that reach out from the cell and grab onto the surface below. This connection is usually pretty solid and cells need to stay put to do their jobs properly.

But when you introduce detergent (like regular soap), it starts messing with all the proteins and lipids that keep cells stuck down. The soap molecules wiggle their way into these adhesion points and basically start dissolving the molecular glue. What you end up seeing under the microscope is thousands of cells that were once happily anchored suddenly losing their grip and starting to float around like they’re in zero gravity. It’s actually kind of mesmerizing to watch.

Sometimes though, those cellular anchors are just too stubborn. The cells are holding on for dear life, and the soap alone isn’t cutting it. That’s when you have to get a little more aggressive, maybe pipette some liquid around to create some physical force, kind of like using a pressure washer instead of just a gentle rinse.

Now, trypsinization is where things get really interesting. Instead of just using soap, scientists often use an enzyme called trypsin (yeah, the same stuff that helps digest your food). Trypsin is like a molecular pair of scissors that specifically cuts protein connections. So while soap just disrupts everything in a messy way, trypsin goes in and precisely snips the protein links holding cells to their surface. It’s way more elegant and controlled. You can literally watch cells round up and pop off their substrate in a matter of minutes. The whole process is designed to be gentle enough that the cells stay alive and happy, just no longer glued down.