Chikina et al. show preferential initiation of blebbing at local cytoskeleton weaknesses at filopodial bases when blebbing is induced by Arp2/3 complex inhibition. They also use correlative platinum replica electron microscopy to characterize actin cytoskeleton architecture in blebs at different stages of their expansion–retraction cycle.

Mutations in ATP13A2 cause Kufor-Rakeb syndrome, an atypical form of Parkinson’s disease. Wang et al. characterize the phenotypes of ATP13A2-deficient animals and cells and show that ATP13A2 recruits HDAC6 to lysosomes to deacetylate cortactin, modulating autophagosome–lysosome fusion and autophagy.

To better understand Rho GTPase signaling in neurite outgrowth, Bagonis et al. overcome persisting algorithmic limitations that have, thus far, stymied comprehensive studies of morphological variation among growth cones. They introduce Growth Cone Analyzer—a versatile computer vision tool for the quantification of filopodia-rich cell morphologies.