If the football World Cup last month taught us anything, it was that for a team to succeed, it must have organized subgroups of individuals — in this case, defence, midfield and forwards — that coordinate successfully with each other. This level of teamwork is also required within cells, as they function efficiently only if the right proteins are in the right place, and if they interact effectively with their relevant targets.

This concept is highlighted by Klas Kullander and Rüdiger Klein on page 475, in which they discuss the family of receptor tyrosine kinases known as Eph receptors and their ligands, called ephrins. Both Eph receptors and ephrins communicate vital information during development and adulthood. However, unlike most receptor tyrosine kinases, this occurs both from ligand to receptor and vice versa, which helps them control the output signal in processes that involve cell–cell communication.

To communicate with each other, neurons rely on the Ca2+-triggered release of neurotransmitters from synaptic vesicles by exocytosis. On page 498, Edwin Chapman suggests that synaptotagmin is the Ca2+ sensor that triggers this exocytosis after the binding of Ca2+ ions. Other components might turn the fusion machinery off until the arrival of Ca2+, which then accelerates synaptic-vesicle exocytosis. Given that this occurs on a timescale of micro- or milliseconds, this is a remarkable process.

On a more physical note, organizing individual cells into multicellular tissues demands that they coordinate behaviours, such as migration, proliferation and differentiation, to assemble into a specific architecture. Lucy Erin O'Brien, Mirjam Segers and Keith Mostov (page 531) describe how three-dimensional culture models are providing key insights into this process and propose a model for how cells reach their goal of spatially and temporally orchestrating their behaviours during epithelial morphogenesis.