Table of Contents
IN THIS ISSUE
FIRST PERSON
REVIEWS
- Talin – the master of integrin adhesions
Summary: We explain why talin is amazing, providing a paradigm for how proteins transduce force into protein recruitment, while functioning at many levels in the extracellular matrix–cytoskeleton linkage.
- Spectraplakin family proteins – cytoskeletal crosslinkers with versatile roles
Summary: Spetraplakins are key cytoskeletal crosslinkers that are evolutionarily conserved. This Review summarizes the essential roles these proteins have in coordinating cytoskeletal dynamics in many different cellular processes.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
- Electrophoresis of cell membrane heparan sulfate regulates galvanotaxis in glial cells
Highlighted Article: Cell surface heparan sulfate is a novel electric field sensor that regulates the galvanotaxis of glial cells through electrophoretic polarization and its function as a co-receptor for chemo-repulsive ligands such as Slit2.
- Smooth muscle function and myosin polymerization
Summary: Evanescence of smooth muscle myosin filaments is involved in the muscle's adaptation to function at different lengths.
- Stress-specific p38 MAPK activation is sufficient to drive EGFR endocytosis but not its nuclear translocation
Highlighted Article: The DNA damage-inducing agents UVB and UVC, but not X-rays or UVA, activate p38 MAPK and drive EGFR endocytosis without detectable EGFR nuclear translocation. Hence, DNA damage alone is not sufficient to induce EGFR endocytosis.
- Disruption of Rab8a and Rab11a causes formation of basolateral microvilli in neonatal enteropathy
Summary: Loss of Rab8a and Rab11a trafficking results in severe microvillus atrophy and extensive formation of basolateral microvilli in mice with neonatal enteropathy.
- The formin DAAM is required for coordination of the actin and microtubule cytoskeleton in axonal growth cones
Highlighted Article: As well as operating as an actin assembly factor, the formin DAAM is involved in linking actin remodeling in filopodia to microtubule stabilization during axonal growth in Drosophila.
- Limited distal organelles and synaptic function in extensive monoaminergic innervation
Summary: Synaptic function and supply of organelles such as vesicles and mitochondria diminish in distal monoaminergic axon terminals.
- Rac1 switching at the right time and location is essential for Fcγ receptor-mediated phagosome formation
Highlighted Article: A novel mechanistic model for phagosome formation that is spatiotemporally controlled by Rac1 switching within a phagocytic cup.
- A mutation in keratin 18 that causes caspase-digestion resistance protects homozygous transgenic mice from hepatic apoptosis and injury
Summary: K18 that is resistant to caspase digestion helps to maintain keratin filament organization and delays apoptosis, thereby protecting liver from injury.
- HIRA deficiency in muscle fibers causes hypertrophy and susceptibility to oxidative stress
Summary: Eliminating the histone chaperone HIRA from mouse skeletal muscle produced a hypertrophic response, compromised sarcolemmal integrity and left muscle fibers that were susceptible to stress-induced degeneration.
- Importin-β and CRM1 control a RANBP2 spatiotemporal switch essential for mitotic kinetochore function
Summary: Importin-β and CRM1 regulate the timing of RANBP2 at mitotic kinetochores in opposite ways, with consequences for kinetochore function, including SUMO-conjugated topoisomerase-IIα accumulation and K-fibre stability.
- Rab7 palmitoylation is required for efficient endosome-to-TGN trafficking
Summary: Rab7 undergoes palmitoylation, a post-translational modification required for endosome-to-TGN trafficking but not for other Rab7 functions.
- Clathrin-mediated post-fusion membrane retrieval influences the exocytic mode of endothelial Weibel-Palade bodies
Summary: Compensatory endocytosis plays key roles in Weibel-Palade body exocytosis. Inhibition of this process results in a change of exocytic mode and the release of von Willebrand factor as tangled strings.
- The cell adhesion molecule CHL1 interacts with patched-1 to regulate apoptosis during postnatal cerebellar development
Summary: The adhesion molecule close homolog of L1 (CHL1) is a novel ligand of the hedgehog receptor patched-1. The CHL1–patched-1 interaction promotes survival of cerebellar granule cells during postnatal mouse development.
- Deficiency of PHB complex impairs respiratory supercomplex formation and activates mitochondrial flashes
Summary: The prohibitin (PHB) complex has a novel role in regulating mitoflash activity by affecting respiratory supercomplex formation and, thus, basal mitochondrial ROS production.
- Lifespan extension by peroxidase and dual oxidase-mediated ROS signaling through pyrroloquinoline quinone in C. elegans
Summary: A peroxidase and dual oxidase system generates longevity-promoting ROS at the plasma membrane in C. elegans. Pyrroloquinoline quinone can activate the dual oxidase involved in lifespan extension.
TOOLS AND RESOURCES
- Breaking the color barrier – a multi-selective antibody reporter offers innovative strategies of fluorescence detection
Summary: We present a multi-color bipartite protein reporter for cell surface labeling of receptors. This permits innovative strategies of detection previously difficult or impossible with conventional fluorescent systems.
ARTICLES OF INTEREST IN OUR OTHER JOURNALS
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In memoriam – Ian Moore
It is with great sadness that Chris Hawes writes the obituary of Ian Moore, Associate Professor in Plant Sciences and Fellow of Wadham College, University of Oxford. Ian succumbed to cancer in August. He made major contributions to plant molecular biology, gene expression systems, the secretory pathway and plant development.
Featured article - Identification and characterization of genes encoding the nuclear envelope LINC complex in the monocot species Zea mays
This Accepted Manuscript is about the plant nuclear envelope in a model grass species. Hank Bass talks about the working model his team propose for the entire maize LINC (Linker of Nucleoskeleton to Cytoskeleton) complex.
Condensins and cohesins generate intramolecular DNA loops. Robert Skibbens explains how condensin rods extrude DNA to compact chromatin during mitosis, whereas structurally adaptive cohesin rings organize the genome during interphase to regulate gene transcription.
Franziska Lautenschläger - credit to Iris Maurer
“Having children forces you to make a clean cut between work and home, and I feel this can be very beneficial because you are forced to think about something else.”
Franziska Lautenschläger’s research focuses on cell migration and polarity, and the links to cell mechanics and the different cytoskeletal networks in cells. Franziska holds a junior professorship in biophysics and is a group leader at both Saarland University and the Leibniz Institute for New Materials in Saarbrücken, Germany.
Want to put organising a Workshop on your CV? We are currently seeking proposals for Workshops to be held during 2021. You can watch this video to hear from some of our previous organisers. Next deadline for applications: 31 May 2019.
Journal of Cell Science is pleased to welcome submissions for an upcoming special issue on 'Cell Biology of the Immune System' edited by Ana-Maria Lennon-Duménil. We invite you to showcase your breakthrough research on all aspects of cell biology as it relates to the immune system. The articles within this issue will receive extensive exposure to a broad audience of cell biologists and immunologists. Submission deadline: 30 June 2019.
First Person interviews
Have you seen our First Person interviews with the early-career first authors of our papers? The authors talk about their work in and out of the lab, the journeys that led them to where they are now and the scientists who inspired them along the way. Recently, we caught up with first authors Yang Li and Chelsea Merkel, Tyler Picariello and Hardeep Gumber.
preLights – A complex containing lysine-acetylated actin inhibits the formin INF2
Laura McCormick highlights a recent preprint from Henry Higgs and team which uses some old-school biochemistry techniques to identify a cellular factor that facilitates INF2 auto-inhibition.
Catch up with recent preLights selected for the cell science community in our latest Table of Contents.
Articles of interest in our sister journals
A crucial role for Arf6 in the response of commissural axons to Slit
Mariko Kinoshita-Kawada, Hiroshi Hasegawa, Tsunaki Hongu, Shigeru Yanagi, Yasunori Kanaho, Ichiro Masai, Takayasu Mishima, Xiaoping Chen, Yoshio Tsuboi, Yi Rao, Junichi Yuasa-Kawada, Jane Y. Wu
Development 2019 146: dev172106
Rab23/Kif17 regulate meiotic progression in oocytes by modulating tubulin acetylation and actin dynamics
Hong-Hui Wang, Yu Zhang, Feng Tang, Meng-Hao Pan, Xiang Wan, Xiao-Han Li, Shao-Chen Sun
Development 2019 146: dev171280