Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Spiral-shaped adult Drosophila testis with individualization complexes. The nuclei of early spermatocytes and elongated sperm are marked in blue (DAPI), while the actin cones in the individualization complexes are highlighted in red (phalloidin). Rolls of elongated spermatid tails (dj–GFP) are quite striking at the base of the testis. Loss of Usp14 function leads to misalignment of these actin cones and eventually to spermatid individualization defects. See article by L. Kovacs et al. (jcs.237511).
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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
EDITORIAL
FIRST PERSON
STICKY WICKET
CELL SCIENTISTS TO WATCH
CELL SCIENCE AT A GLANCE
YAP/TAZ functions and their regulation at a glance
Summary: A hitchhiker's guide to the rapidly expanding YAP/TAZ regulatory network, centered on the Hippo pathway and on mechanosensing of the physical properties of the cell microenvironment.
REVIEWS
The role of microtubules in secretory protein transport
Summary: Microtubules are important regarding various steps of protein transport. Regulation of their functions is achieved by protein interactions but also by post-translational modifications of tubulin.
What biologists want from their chloride reporters – a conversation between chemists and biologists
Summary: A Review of the diverse roles of chloride ions in physiology, the current repertoire of fluorescent chloride reporters, and a discussion with biologists about the nuances of using them.
SHORT REPORTS
Drosophila Morgana is an Hsp90-interacting protein with a direct role in microtubule polymerisation
Summary: Morgana, a Drosophila homologue of an oncogene, physically interacts with Hsp90 complexes and has an independent function in regulating microtubule polymerisation, both in vitro and in vivo.
Usp14 is required for spermatogenesis and ubiquitin stress responses in Drosophila melanogaster
Summary: The deubiquitylase Usp14 is required for maintenance of the equilibrium between free and covalently linked ubiquitin moieties during later stages of Drosophila spermatogenesis.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Capacitation-associated alkalization in human sperm is differentially controlled at the subcellular level
Summary: Human sperm display differential pHi regulation at the subcellular level upon capacitation, in a process involving PKA signaling and several membrane transport proteins and culminating in hyperactivation.
Mechanism of control of F-actin cortex architecture by SWAP-70
Summary: A range of biochemical and biophysical methods, including FLIM/FRET, reveal the mechanisms of SWAP-70 dimerization and F-actin binding both in vitro and in living cells.
Senescent mesenchymal stem cells remodel extracellular matrix driving breast cancer cells to a more-invasive phenotype
Highlighted Article: Senescence-induced biophysical changes in mesenchymal stem cells enabled them to develop a matrix-remodeling phenotype, which promoted increased cancer cell proliferation and invasion.
A GTPase-induced switch in phospholipid affinity of collybistin contributes to synaptic gephyrin clustering
Summary: This study shows that the small GTPase TC10 modulates the phosphoinositide-binding-specificity of collybistin, which regulates collybistin trafficking to inhibitory postsynapses and thus affects the assembly of the synaptic gephyrin scaffold.
Plasma membrane processes are differentially regulated by type I phosphatidylinositol phosphate 5-kinases and RASSF4
Summary: PIP5KIβ and PIP5KIγ synthesize PtdInsP2; RASSF4 stimulates PIP5KIγ. These three proteins have different effects on a panel of functional assays, implying multiple pools of lipid.
LAX28 is required for the stable assembly of the inner dynein arm f complex, and the tether and tether head complex in Leishmania flagella
Summary: The inner dynein arm f (or l1) complex is required for coordinating flagellar motility. We show that LAX28 is needed for its function and localization in the flagellum of Leishmania mexicana.
AP180 promotes release site clearance and clathrin-dependent vesicle reformation in mouse cochlear inner hair cells
Highlighted Article: The neuronal endocytic adaptor protein AP180 has a dual role in the clearance of release sites and in membrane retrieval in inner hair cells of the murine cochlea.
TOOLS AND RESOURCES
Pick-ya actin – a method to purify actin isoforms with bespoke key post-translational modifications
Highlighted Article: A new method to produce eukaryotic actin isoforms with distinct post-translational modifications, which will greatly facilitate biochemical, biophysical and structural studies.
Accurate measurement of fast endocytic recycling kinetics in real time
Summary: Introduction to an easy to implement microscopy-based platform enabling accurate quantification of fast endocytic recycling, biosynthetic delivery and protein turnover in real time.
CORRECTION
PREPRINT HIGHLIGHTS
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.
