Issues

Summary: This Cell Science at a Glance article and the accompanying poster serve as an introduction to the diverse roles of ADF and cofilin proteins in cells.

Summary: In this Commentary, we review for the first time, the functional associations of two integral members of the nuclear envelope, namely the linkers of the nucleoskeleton and cytoskeleton, and nuclear pore complexes.

Highlighted Article: Detailed three-dimensional observations reveal that the localization of Sar1, which cycles on and off COPII-coated membranes, is restricted to the rims of the COPII-coated membranes in vivo.

Summary: Functional maturation of Golgi elements is necessary to make them competent for secretion. We highlight this process in cells without microtubules and show that the recycling of Golgi factors is essential.

Highlighted Article: Knockdown of COPI function restricts retrograde recycling of Golgi-resident proteins and markedly impairs the transition from cis to medial and to trans cisternae, as demonstrated in living yeast cells.

Summary: Hepatocytes express keratin 8 (K8) and 18 (K18) as their sole intermediate filaments. A loss of K8/K18 impacts on PKCδ- and ASMase-mediated modulation of lipid raft size and FasR-mediated apoptosis.

Highlighted Article: Dendrite degeneration is analogous to axon degeneration, but no regulators of this process had previously been identified. We find that fidgetin helps take dendrites apart by severing microtubules.

Summary: We report the characterization of Drosophila Ringmaker (Ringer), and demonstrate that Ringer regulates axonal growth by affecting microtubular organization during CNS development.

Highlighted Article: Sema3A–Npn-1 signaling cell autonomously influences phrenic nerve branching in the diaphragm and induces ectopic muscle formation through secondary mechanisms, possibly by Slit–Robo signaling.

Summary: Atomic force microscopy imaging revealed that Drosophila E-cadherin has a tightly folded globular structure with multiple domains that contain determinants of homophilic binding.

Summary: Disruption of the FASII fatty acid synthesis pathway in the apicoplast of Toxoplasma gondii leads to a defect in cleavage furrow formation, preventing completion of cytokinesis.

Summary: In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, cargo trafficking involves microtubule plus-ends and a Bik1-dependent mechanism that requires the presence of the C-terminal aromatic residue of β-tubulin.

Summary: Alterations in the rate of delivery to and of hindered diffusion out of plasma membrane MHC-I patches directly influences the size and persistence of the patches, which could extensively impact on CTL recognition of foreign peptides.

Summary: An automated image-morphing-based method, intricately coupled with automated segmentation and multi-criterion path alignment, for a comprehensive label-free analysis of live-cell biomechanics, morphology and migration.