ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Lamellipodium

A lamellipodium is a part of a cell that helps it move and change shape. Imagine you are playing with playdough and you want to make a snake. You would use your fingers to stretch the playdough and make it longer. Your fingers would be like a lamellipodium.

In a cell, a lamellipodium is made up of lots of tiny parts called filaments. These filaments stick out from the cell and act like tiny arms that can reach out and grab onto things. They also help the cell move forward, kind of like how you move forward when you crawl.

Cells use their lamellipodia to do lots of things. For example, when a white blood cell needs to find and attack a germ, it uses its lamellipodia to move towards the germ. And when a cell needs to divide into two cells during cell division, it uses its lamellipodia to help shape the new cells. So, a lamellipodium is a really important part of a cell that helps it move and change shape.