Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: In C. elegans adult hermaphrodite gonads, only germ cells that have lost PGL-1 (red), a constitutive protein component of germ granules, are selectively engulfed by gonadal sheath cells (green) under both physiological and DNA-damaged conditions. See article by H. Min et al. (pp. 341–353).
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IN THIS ISSUE
CELL SCIENTISTS TO WATCH
COMMENTARIES
Third harmonic generation microscopy of cells and tissue organization
Summary: The basis of third harmonic generation microscopy and its versatile applications in cell and tissue research are reviewed, as well as its emerging applicability in clinical practice.
Computational ‘microscopy’ of cellular membranes
Summary: Computational modelling, or ‘microscopy’, has emerged as a powerful tool to study cell membranes across a broad range of resolutions, complementing experimental microscopy methods.
SHORT REPORT
Wnt/β-catenin and LIF–Stat3 signaling pathways converge on Sp5 to promote mouse embryonic stem cell self-renewal
Summary: This study reveals a new function of Sp5 in mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal mediated by CHIR99021 and LIF, and reprogramming of EpiSCs into naїve ESCs.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
PTP-PEST controls EphA3 activation and ephrin-induced cytoskeletal remodelling
Highlighted Article: This study shows new roles for the protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP-PEST in controlling EphA3 receptor tyrosine kinase activity, trafficking and Eph-induced cell retraction.
Role of epithelial Na+ channels in endothelial function
Summary: ENaCs endogenous to human endothelial cells are mechano-sensitive. Persistent activation of ENaCs will inevitably lead to endothelium dysfunction and even vascular diseases.
The formins FHOD1 and INF2 regulate inter- and intra-structural contractility of podosomes
Highlighted Article: This study identifies the formins FHOD1 and INF2 as new components of podosomes in primary human macrophages, which regulate inter- and intra-structural contractility at discrete podosome substructures.
Reactive oxygen species exert opposite effects on Tyr23 phosphorylation of the nuclear and cortical pools of annexin A2
Summary: Reactive oxygen species cause two opposite and transient Tyr23-based modifications of annexin A2; its dephosphorylation in the nucleus and phosphorylation at the cell cortex, resulting in release of the protein in exosomes.
Mon1–Ccz1 activates Rab7 only on late endosomes and dissociates from the lysosome in mammalian cells
Highlighted Article: A combination of a Rab7 sensor and confocal FRET imaging techniques revealed that the Mon1–Ccz1 complex activates Rab7 only on late endosome and dissociates from lysosome in mammalian cells.
Loss of PGL-1 and PGL-3, members of a family of constitutive germ-granule components, promotes germline apoptosis in C. elegans
Summary: PGL-1 and PGL-3, members of a family of constitutive germ-granule components, suppress excessive germline apoptosis by repressing both the protein levels of CED-4 and the cytoplasmic translocation of SIR-2.1 in C. elegans.
FGF control of E-cadherin targeting in the Drosophila midgut impacts on primordial germ cell motility
Summary: FGF signaling modulates zygotic E-cadherin distribution to maintain posterior midgut epithelial 3D architecture, impacting on primordial germ cell motility during Drosophila early embryonic development.
Srv2/CAP is required for polarized actin cable assembly and patch internalization during clathrin-mediated endocytosis
Summary: Srv2/CAP is required for efficient endocytosis owing to its role in the formation of the actin patches that aid in vesicle invagination and in the formation of the actin cables that these move along.
PAK6 targets to cell–cell adhesions through its N-terminus in a Cdc42-dependent manner to drive epithelial colony escape
Summary: PAK6 targeting to cell–cell contacts is dependent on both a polybasic motif and binding to Cdc42. Disruption of PAK6 targeting to cell–cell contacts inhibits epithelial cell colony escape.
CULD is required for rhodopsin and TRPL channel endocytic trafficking and survival of photoreceptor cells
Summary: CULD, a CUB- and LDLa-domain transmembrane protein that is enriched in photoreceptor cells, is required in endocytic turnover of rhodopsin and TRPL.
Haemoglobin degradation underpins the sensitivity of early ring stage Plasmodium falciparum to artemisinins
Summary: Down-modulation of the expression of haemoglobin-degrading falcipains in P. falciparum renders early ring stage parasites resistant to artemisinins.
Orc5 induces large-scale chromatin decondensation in a GCN5-dependent manner
Summary: Human Orc5 associates with H3 histone acetyl transferase GCN5, enhancing the chromatin-opening function of Orc5 during G1 and allows the establishment of preRCs at the origins.
Rop, the Sec1/Munc18 homolog in Drosophila, is required for furrow ingression and stable cell shape during cytokinesis
Summary: Live-imaging genetic screens revealed that Rop, a homolog of the syntaxin-interacting protein Sec1/Munc18, is required for maintaining contractile ring integrity and cell shape during furrow ingression.
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
Fast and precise targeting of single tumor cells in vivo by multimodal correlative microscopy
Highlighted Article: We provide here a novel correlative workflow combining intravital microscopy, microCT and 3D electron microscopy to reveal metastatic events in mouse brain and skin tissue at high resolution.
CORRECTION
ARTICLES OF INTEREST IN OTHER COB JOURNALS
From Development
Call for papers: Cell Biology of Mitochondria
We are welcoming submissions for our upcoming special issue: Cell Biology of Mitochondria. This issue will be coordinated by two Guest Editors: Ana J. Garcia-Saez (University of Cologne, Germany) and Heidi McBride (McGill University, Canada). Submission deadline: 1 October 2024.
Focal adhesion kinase signalling – tumour vulnerabilities and clinical opportunities
In this Review, David Schlaepfer and colleagues summarise 30 years of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) research with a view of the ongoing clinical testing of small-molecule FAK inhibitors. The authors touch on how FAK plays an important signal integration role and ultimately functions to guide cellular behaviour. Additionally, the authors discuss how FAK inhibition might present a powerful tool to influence the physiological response to other therapeutic approaches.
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 2024 applications: 7 September (decision by week commencing 8 October 2024); 22 November (decision by week commencing 16 December).
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.
Interview with Journal of Cell Science Editor Rob Parton
Read our interview with Rob Parton, a Cell Scientist to Watch, about his career journey leading him from the UK to the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, the evolution of the membrane trafficking field and his advice for running a highly collaborative lab. As a Journal of Cell Science Editor, Rob brings to the journal his expertise in multiscale analysis of membrane function, membrane microdomains, lipid droplets and advanced microscopy techniques in cell biology.
