Issues

Summary: This Cell Science at a Glance discusses the emerging mechanisms of Weibel–Palade body size control and their effect on modulating haemostasis.

Summary: We give an overview of the intercellular communication mechanisms involving Cx43, describing the role played by Cx43 in gap junctions, tunnelling nanotubes and extracellular vesicles.

Summary: Elevated tension in a cell hinders clathrin-mediated endocytosis through inhibition of de novo coat initiation, elongation of clathrin coat lifetimes, and reduction of high magnitude growth rates.

Highlighted Article: A Drosophila model of congenital disorders of glycosylation diseases (mutation of Cog7) suggests that modulating secretory trafficking could provide a novel means of therapy.

Summary: The stoichiometry of competing target mRNAs (Nrn1 and Gap43), RNA-binding protein levels (HuD), and affinity of mRNA–RNA-binding protein interactions contribute to the efficiency of axonal mRNA localization elements.

Highlighted Article: EFA6 is shown to reside in the axon initial segment, where it functions to prevent growth-promoting molecules from entering mature CNS axons. Removing EFA6 elevates the regenerative potential of the axon.

Summary: Mutations in the ASPM or CDK5RAP2 gene have been identified in familial microcephaly patients. We show that ASPM and CDK5RAP2 redundantly focus mitotic spindle poles in human tissue culture cells.

Highlighted Article: The facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy-associated protein DUX4 inhibits myogenic differentiation via its homeodomains, which bear similarity to, and can be exchanged with, those of the muscle stem cell master regulator, Pax7.

Summary: Loss of integrin α8 or protocadherin-15 in hair cells results in kinociliary defects associated with Rhoa inactivation and mislocalization of specific ciliary markers.

Highlighted Article: Soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) regulates Ca²⁺ release from the ER. Although sAC domains in ER and mitochondria are distinct, Ca²⁺ release from the ER provides a functional link between the two organelles.

Summary: Ca²⁺ puffs are the building blocks for IP₃-evoked Ca²⁺ signals. Ca²⁺ puffs evoked by caged IP₃ or via endogenous signalling pathways initiate at the same fixed intracellular sites.

Summary: Thyroid hormone and its receptor mediate downregulation of HSV-1 thymidine kinase, which is reversed after a computationally guided point mutation disrupts the receptor binding element in neuron-like cell culture.

Summary: Alkylation damage induced cellular transformation in breast acinar cultures, which was partially rescued by DNA-PK inhibition.

Summary: Kindlin supports integrin αIIbβ3 activation by forming a complex with paxillin and talin and thus enhancing talin binding to integrin.