Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: The image shows keratinocytes forming protrusions and beginning to migrate off micro-patterned collagen islands. Cells were seeded onto the patterns, then induced to migrate by activating the surrounding non-adhesive polymer surface with collagen-mimetic peptides. The F-actin cytoskeleton is stained with phalloidin (green) and the nuclei are labelled with DAPI (blue). See article by F. V. Almeida et al. (pp. 4475–4486).
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IN THIS ISSUE
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CELL SCIENTISTS TO WATCH
OPINION
Decoding the stem cell quiescence cycle – lessons from yeast for regenerative biology
Summary: This Opinion article examines key concepts underlying our understanding of stem cell quiescence that can be attributed to studies in yeast.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
The cytolinker plectin regulates nuclear mechanotransduction in keratinocytes
Highlighted Article: Plectin protects the nucleus of keratinocytes from deformation by forming a dense, cross-linked keratin network that resists both tensile and compressive forces.
Spatial and temporal translational control of germ cell mRNAs mediated by the eIF4E isoform IFE-1
Summary: mRNA translational control is vital for gamete development. One of three eIF4Es expressed in C. elegans germ cells recruits mRNAs at critical junctures for both egg and sperm maturation.
Ras-activated Dsor1 promotes Wnt signaling in Drosophila development
Highlighted Article: Ras-activated Dsor1 (MEK in mammals) promotes Wnt signaling in normal Drosophila development. This interaction is conserved in mammalian cells.
Drosophila Rabex-5 restricts Notch activity in hematopoietic cells and maintains hematopoietic homeostasis
Summary: Ras regulator Rabex-5 restricts Notch during Drosophila embryonic and larval hematopoiesis to maintain hematopoietic homeostasis and might serve as an axis to coordinate Ras and Notch signaling.
The selective inhibition of protein phosphatase-1 results in mitotic catastrophe and impaired tumor growth
Highlighted Article: Mitosis is an established target for cancer chemotherapy. We show that the inhibition of protein phosphatase PP1 causes an arrest in mid-mitosis that often culminates in cell death.
AP-2-complex-mediated endocytosis of Drosophila Crumbs regulates polarity by antagonizing Stardust
Summary: The proper amount of the polarity determinant Crumbs is crucial for apico-basal epithelial cell polarity. Here, we show that its level is controlled by Stardust-dependent stabilization and AP-2-mediated endocytosis.
Screen-based identification and validation of four new ion channels as regulators of renal ciliogenesis
Highlighted Article: We present here the findings of a screen for ion channels regulating cilia in renal cells. The properties of four ion channels suggest a role for membrane subdomains at the base of the cilium.
CDK9 and its repressor LARP7 modulate cardiomyocyte proliferation and response to injury in the zebrafish heart
Summary: The balance of CDK9 and LARP7 plays a key role in cardiomyocyte proliferation and response to injury. LARP7 represents a potentially novel therapeutic target in promoting recovery from injury.
CENP-C and CENP-I are key connecting factors for kinetochore and CENP-A assembly
Highlighted Article: Tethering analysis using various centromere and kinetochore factors, and chromatin modifiers reveals that CENP-C and CENP-I are key connecting factors for kinetochore and CENP-A assembly.
Lack of CD2AP disrupts Glut4 trafficking and attenuates glucose uptake in podocytes
Summary: CD2AP reduces trafficking of GSVs from the perinuclear region to the plasma membrane in podocytes and attenuates glucose uptake, possibly due to a defect in the uncoating of clathrin-coated vesicles.
A direct interaction between fascin and microtubules contributes to adhesion dynamics and cell migration
Summary: Fascin associates directly with microtubules independently of F-actin binding, and this contributes to microtubule dynamics, adhesion assembly and cell migration.
P2X7 receptor activation regulates rapid unconventional export of transglutaminase-2
Summary: Purinergic signaling regulates unconventional secretion of transglutaminase-2 (TG2) and explains the link between aberrant protein modifications and inflammatory responses in TG2-dependent autoimmunity.
Cadherin-11 endocytosis through binding to clathrin promotes cadherin-11-mediated migration in prostate cancer cells
Summary: These findings show that recycling of cell adhesion molecules through endocytosis promotes their ability to control cell migration.
Interaction between CHL1 and serotonin receptor 2c regulates signal transduction and behavior in mice
Summary: The cell adhesion molecule CHL1 interacts with the constitutively active isoform of the serotonin receptor 2c to regulate serotonin-receptor-2c-dependent signaling and exploratory behavior in mice.
Impaired mitochondrial Fe-S cluster biogenesis activates the DNA damage response through different signaling mediators
Summary: A characterization of the defects at different stages of the iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis that result in nuclear DNA damage and constitutively activate a non-canonical checkpoint pathway in S. cerevisiae.
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.
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).