Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Metabolic enzymes CTP synthase (CTPS) and inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) can form filamentous cytoophidium structure in mammalian cells. HEK 293T cells overexpressing CTPS1–GFP (green) fusion protein were fixed and stained for IMPDH (red). CTPS and IMPDH fiber-like subcellular structures (cytoophidia) are visible in most cells. DAPI staining of the nuclei is shown in blue. See article by C.-C. Chang et al. (pp. 3550–3555).
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IN THIS ISSUE
STICKY WICKET
CELL SCIENTISTS TO WATCH
MEETING REPORT
CELL SCIENCE AT A GLANCE
Collagen VI at a glance
Summary: Collagen VI is a remarkable component of the extracellular matrix, and studies have highlighted a crucial role for this protein in a wide range of tissues under physiological and pathological conditions.
COMMENTARY
Outside-in signaling – a brief review of GPCR signaling with a focus on the Drosophila GPCR family
Summary: GPCR signaling is required for cells to receive input from the outside world and from neighboring cells. This Commentary reviews known GPCR families and highlights recently discovered roles for GPCRs in Drosophila embryonic development.
SHORT REPORTS
PDGFRβ and oncogenic mutant PDGFRα D842V promote disassembly of primary cilia through a PLCγ- and AURKA-dependent mechanism
Summary: Growth-factor-dependent primary cilia disassembly occurs at the G0–G1 transition. PDGFR-mediated PLCγ signaling induces deciliation by activating intracellular Ca2+ release and, thereby, AURKA.
Cytoophidium assembly reflects upregulation of IMPDH activity
Summary: The formation of IMPDH cytoophidia reflects upregulation of purine nucleotide synthesis, suggesting that the IMPDH cytoophidium plays a distinct role from that of the CTPS cytoophidium in controlling nucleotide homeostasis.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
RhoC maintains vascular homeostasis by regulating VEGF-induced signaling in endothelial cells
Highlighted Article: RhoC maintains vascular homeostasis in endothelial cells yet is dispensable for vascular development. Inhibition of RhoC represents an attractive therapeutic approach to prevent cancer metastasis.
Genetic evidence for a microtubule-capture mechanism during polarised growth of Aspergillus nidulans
Summary: Microtubule plus ends are guided in the tip of growing fungal hyphae along actin cables and converge in one point.
Tetraspanin-3 is an organizer of the multi-subunit Nogo-A signaling complex
Highlighted Article: Tetraspanin-3 is an organizer of the multi-subunit Nogo-A signaling complex. It acts in a protein complex with Nogo-A-Δ20 and S1PR2, and is required during Nogo-A-Δ20-mediated cell spreading and inhibition of neurite outgrowth.
Low levels of endogenous or X-ray-induced DNA double-strand breaks activate apoptosis in adult neural stem cells
Summary: This study shows that endogenous and radiation-induced DNA damage sensitively activates apoptosis in the adult sub-ventricular zone (SVZ). Developmentally regulated apoptosis is shown in the neonatal SVZ.
Altering lamina assembly reveals lamina-dependent and -independent functions for A-type lamins
Highlighted Article: By using DARPin technology, we inhibit lamin A assembly in vitro and integration of lamin A/C into the native lamina to identify lamina-dependent and -independent functions for A-type lamins.
FoxO1 inhibits transcription and membrane trafficking of epithelial Na+ channel
Summary: FoxO1 is a key negative regulatory factor in the insulin-dependent control of ENaC expression, and FoxO1 phosphorylation promotes ENaC membrane trafficking by binding to 14-3-3ε in epithelium.
MyoD transcription factor induces myogenesis by inhibiting Twist-1 through miR-206
Highlighted Article: We identify a mechanism of myogenesis in which MyoD and miR-206 downregulate the expression of Twist-1. This pathway might also play an important role in muscle disease.
Yeast Pmp3p has an important role in plasma membrane organization
Summary: Yeast PMP3 has strong genetic interactions with the sphingolipid synthesis pathway. Pmp3p controls the plasma membrane composition and may act as a phosphoinositide-regulated stress sensor.
Polycomb RING1A- and RING1B-dependent histone H2A monoubiquitylation at pericentromeric regions promotes S-phase progression
Highlighted Article: The polycomb E3 ligases RING1A and RING1B monoubiquitylate histone H2A in pericentromeric DNA to promote replication, and hence histone H2A has a function beyond transcription.
The fission yeast cytokinetic contractile ring regulates septum shape and closure
Summary: During cytokinesis in fission yeast the tension of the actomyosin contractile ring regulates septum closure by suppressing roughness of the septum edge, while septum growth sets the constriction rate.
ARTICLES OF INTEREST IN OTHER COB JOURNALS
From Development
Call for papers - Cilia and Flagella: from Basic Biology to Disease

We are welcoming submissions for our upcoming special issue: Cilia and Flagella: from Basic Biology to Disease. This issue will be coordinated by two Guest Editors: Pleasantine Mill (University of Edinburgh) and Lotte Pedersen (University of Copenhagen). Submission deadline: 1 March 2025.
About us

Our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 this year. Read about the history of the Company and find out what Sarah Bray, our Chair of the Board of Directors, has to say.
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025

We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register your interest to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK. The final deadline for registration is 28 February 2025.
Introducing our new Associate Editors

In this Editorial, JCS Editor-in-Chief Michael Way welcomes five new Associate Editors to the JCS team. These Associate Editors will expand our support for the wider cell biology community and handle articles in immune cell biology, proteostasis, imaging and image analysis, plant cell biology, and stem cell biology and modelling.
How to investigate GPCR signalling in cells

Abigail Pearce and colleagues provide a critical overview of new, state-of-the-art approaches used to quantitatively study G protein-coupled receptor signalling in cells.
JCS-FocalPlane Training Grants

Early-career researchers - working in an area covered by JCS - who would like to attend a microscopy training course, please apply. Deadline dates for 2025 applications: 7 March 2025 (decision by week commencing 21 April 2025) and 6 June 2025 (decision by week commencing 28 July 2025).