Newest Articles
Quantification of heterogeneity among growth conesTo 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.
BARs drive membrane fission via protein crowdingCylindrical protein scaffolds are thought to stabilize membrane tubules, preventing membrane fission. In contrast, Snead et al. find that when scaffold proteins assemble, bulky disordered domains within them become acutely concentrated, generating steric pressure that destabilizes tubules, driving fission.
Structural analysis of outer kinetochoresKinetochore subcomplexes have been studied extensively in vitro, but little is known about their structure and interactions with microtubules in cells. Ng et al. combine electron cryotomography of serial cryosections with genetic and pharmacological perturbation to study yeast Dam1C/DASH complexes and the kinetochore–microtubule interface inside cells.
MTCBP-1 blocks ECM remodeling by tumor cellsTumor cells utilize invadopodia to remodel the surrounding stroma during metastatic invasion. Qiang et al. demonstrate that MTCBP-1 significantly attenuates invadopodia formation and function by binding MT1-MMP and preventing the interaction of MT1-MMP with the actin cytoskeleton.
Single event imaging of FGF2 secretionFGF2 is a cell survival factor secreted by unconventional means. Dimou et al. visualize individual FGF2 translocation events at the plasma membrane by live cell TIRF microscopy, providing insight into the kinetics and the mechanism of this process.
N-cadherin assembly of adherens junctionsThis work describes a role for endothelial N-cadherin in the regulation of endothelial permeability in the brain and lung. N-cadherin adhesions formed between endothelial cells and pericytes increase the abundance of VE-cadherin at adherens junctions through the RhoGEF Trio-dependent activation of RhoA and Rac1.
Cell-cycle control of cell polarityIn Saccharomyces cerevisiae, polarization of Cdc42 is regulated by the cell cycle, but the regulatory mechanisms are not well understood. Moran et al. show that G1 cyclin–dependent kinase activity enables localization of a subset of Cdc42 effectors to sites enriched for Cdc42.
Current Issue
December 3, 2018
Volume 217, No. 12
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Reviews & Opinions
- The interdependence of gene-regulatory elements and the 3D genome
Vermunt et al. discuss the relationship between gene-regulatory elements and nuclear architectural features in transcription.
- Wrapping up the fats—a structure of the lipid droplet biogenesis protein seipin
Maria Bohnert discusses the potential functional insight into lipid droplet formation provided by Sui et al.’s new cryo-EM structure of Drosophila seipin.
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Nilsson reviews the essential role of phosphoprotein phosphatases in the regulation of controlled dephosphorylation during cell division.