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Plants possess a unique repertoire of SNARE and RAB GTPase proteins that regulate membrane trafficking events. The plant-specific RAB protein ARA6 regulates the formation of a specific SNARE complex to modulate the response to environmental cues.
Budding yeast telomeres are anchored to the nuclear envelope. Siz2-mediated SUMOylation of Yku70/80 and Sir4, both known to mediate telomere anchoring, is found to promote telomere localisation at the nuclear envelope and restrain their elongation.
Internalization and endocytic recycling of the β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) is critical for its signalling activities and is known to depend on sorting nexin 27 (SNX27). SNX27 is now shown to link β2AR to the retromer complex to mediate recycling of the receptor.
Single-molecule force spectroscopy measurements show that the microtubule depolymerizing enzyme MCAK uses microtubule disassembly to generate force at both microtubule ends.
The mechanisms governing the biosynthesis of multiple motile cilia in vertebrates remain largely elusive. miR-449 accumulates specifically in multiciliated cells of Xenopus skin and human lung to promote multicilia formation through modulation of Notch signalling.
Through the action of intraflagella transport, primary cilia are found to sequester Jouberin, a positive regulator of Wnt signalling, to limit β-catenin nuclear entry and to modulate Wnt responsiveness. Consequently, Wnt is exacerbated in cells without cilia but inhibited in cells with more than one cilium.
Assembly of mitotic spindle microtubules in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos requires the Aurora A kinase. Live-cell imaging and RNAi-based experiments now reveal that the kinase activity of Aurora A is dispensible for this function.
Mechanical force causes stiffening, or reinforcement, of integrin-based cellular adhesions. This reinforcement is shown to be mediated by the recruitment of the LARG and GEF-H1 guanine nucleotide exchange factors, which activate distinct signalling pathways in response to integrin stimulation.
In zebrafish, angiogenic sprouts from the apposed dorsal aorta and vein emanate in opposite directions. Whereas growth from the dorsal aorta is modulated by VEGF signalling, BMP is shown to be a vein-specific angiogenic cue for vascular network formation during development.
The lipid phosphatase and tumour suppressor PTEN is regulated by ubiquitylation. The E3 ligase WWP2/AIP-2 is found to mediate PTEN degradation and is suggested to function as an oncogene.
In Arabidopsis thaliana, Early Flowering 4 (ELF4) is essential for maintenance of the circadian rhythm. Now three transcription factors are found that activate ELF4 during the day, but are negatively regulated at dawn to ensure cyclic ELF4 expression.
The plant hormone auxin promotes the degradation of inhibitors of ARF transcription factors to control plant development, but the role of auxin in patterning has been unclear. The ARF protein MONOPTEROS is shown to induce both its own expression and that of its inhibitor, with auxin acting as a threshold-specific trigger to switch this feedback system to MONOPTEROS accumulation.
Axin negatively regulates Wnt signalling by promoting degradation of β-catenin. Poly(ADP)-ribosylation of axin induces its degradation to relieve this inhibition. The ubiquitin ligase RNF146 is now shown to recognize and ubiquitylate PARsylated axin2.
Intraflagellar transport proteins (IFTs) are mostly known for their role in cilia assembly and maintenance. The cilial protein IFT88 is now found to transport microtubule clusters containing microtubule-nucleating proteins to spindle poles to promote astral microtubule formation and correct spindle orientation.
Targeting Mad1 to kinetochores reveals that Mad1 localization is sufficient to induce mitotic-checkpoint-dependent arrest, and that Aurora B, Mps1 and BubR1 are required for checkpoint maintenance.
The subcellular position of lysosomes, whether adjacent to the plasma membrane or perinuclear, regulates mTOR signalling and autophagy in response to nutrient availablity. Lysosomal position is regulated by changes in intracellular pH.
Phototropism induces the asymmetric distribution of the plant hormone auxin. In Arabidopsis, light perception by photoreceptors represses the transcription of the PINOID kinase to prevent the localization of the auxin transporter PIN3 to the illuminated site and induces growth at the shaded site.
ESCRT complexes mediate membrane scission. Live-cell imaging analyses reveal the kinetics of recruitment of the ESCRT component Vps34 to HIV budding sites.
Organelle DNA replication is coupled to nuclear DNA replication in plant cells. In the red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae, a plastid signalling molecule, Mg-ProtoIX, binds the F-box SCF ubiquitin ligase Fbx3 to inhibit cyclin 1 degradation and thus block nuclear DNA replication.
Post-lactational involution in the mammary gland is shown to be accomplished by a lysosome-mediated cell death pathway. This pathway is independent of the executioner caspases 3, 6 and 7, and instead relies on Stat3-mediated upregulation of cathepsins.