Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Streams of GFP-expressing Dictyostelium during aggregate formation in early development. The aggregation process is mediated by the chemoattractant cAMP and the functions of the atypical MAPK Erk2 and GATA transcription factor GtaC. Erk2 regulates the cytoplasmic translocation of GtaC in response to the chemoattractant cAMP and also to the chemoattractant folate, important for foraging. See article by J. A. Hadwiger et al. (jcs260148).
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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
STICKY WICKET
CELL SCIENTISTS TO WATCH
MEETING REPORT
REVIEWS
Rerouting trafficking circuits through posttranslational SNARE modifications
Summary: We provide a comprehensive review of the SNARE posttranslational modification literature, focusing on how these modifications can impact membrane traffic in a variety of contexts.
Mechanical role of the submembrane spectrin scaffold in red blood cells and neurons
Summary: Spectrins are large proteins that form organized scaffolds in eukaryotic cells. This Review discusses the mechanical properties of spectrins, their organization in red blood cells and neurons, and the contribution to the mechanical properties of these cells.
SHORT REPORT
Co-transport of the nuclear-encoded Cox7c mRNA with mitochondria along axons occurs through a coding-region-dependent mechanism
Highlighted Article: Biochemical and live imaging analyses show that in mouse axons, Cox7c mRNA is associated and transported with mitochondria. Mutational analysis identifies mRNA domains essential for co-transport.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
A new mechanism of fibronectin fibril assembly revealed by live imaging and super-resolution microscopy
Highlighted Article: Fibronectin (Fn1) fibrils form when centripetally moving Fn1 nanodomains become organized into arrays. Fn1 fibrils are arrays of periodically spaced nanodomains containing multiple Fn1 dimers.
Arih2 regulates Hedgehog signaling through smoothened ubiquitylation and ER-associated degradation
Highlighted Article: An ER-localized isoform of Arih2 regulates Smo synthesis to keep ciliary levels low at the basal state and maintain low levels of Hedgehog expression in the absence of ligand.
Bidirectional regulation between AP-1 and SUMOylation pathway genes modulates inflammatory signaling during Salmonella infection
Summary: A complex interplay between host SUMO pathway genes and the AP-1 transcription factor during Salmonella infection fine-tunes the inflammatory mechanisms and pathogen survival.
An atypical MAPK regulates translocation of a GATA transcription factor in response to chemoattractant stimulation
Summary: Chemotactic signals that direct Dictyostelium movement for foraging and multicellular development act through an atypical MAPK to regulate the cellular distribution of a key developmental GATA transcription factor.
Growth conditions inducing G1 cell cycle arrest enhance lipid production in the oleaginous yeast Lipomyces starkeyi
Summary: The oleaginous yeast Lipomyces starkeyi synchronized in G1 upon rapamycin treatment or nitrogen depletion efficiently produces and accumulates lipids. Cell cycle control is an attractive approach for industrial lipid production.
FCHSD2 is required for stereocilia maintenance in mouse cochlear hair cells
Summary: Knockout of Fchsd2 leads to stereocilia maintenance deficits and hearing loss in mice, suggesting that FCHSD2 is required for stereocilia maintenance in mouse cochlear hair cells.
Respiratory syncytial virus disrupts the airway epithelial barrier by decreasing cortactin and destabilizing F-actin
Summary: A cortactin-dependent mechanism mediates disruption and dysfunction of epithelial barrier caused by respiratory syncytial virus infection.
TOOLS AND RESOURCES
Proteomic analysis of the actin cortex in interphase and mitosis
Summary: Contractile tension at the actomyosin cortex is a key determinant of cell shape. Cortices from cells with high and low tension were analysed using mass spectrometry, generating a dataset of candidate cortex mechanics regulators.
FIRST PERSON
CORRECTION
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.
Fantastic proteins and where to find them – histones, in the nucleus and beyond
In this Review, Johanna Grinat and colleagues provide an evolutionary perspective of histones, nuclear chromatin and extracellular chromatin biology, describing the known extranuclear and extracellular functions of histones.
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).
How to reduce your lab's carbon footprint
All stakeholders – from those working in the lab to those providing funding and infrastructure – have an important role to play to becoming more sustainable. In this Essay, Julie Welburn discusses what lab users can collectively do to transform biomedical research into a discipline that is significantly and positively sustainable.
