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Burroughs and DeBerardinis discuss the metabolic pathways that tumour cells employ to promote their survival and proliferation, and present the current approaches to study cancer metabolism in an in vivo setting.
Excess caloric intake leads to both the growth of existing fat cells and the generation of new adipocytes. New findings show that PI3K–Akt2 signalling is involved in the differentiation of adult adipose precursor cells — a pathway not required for adipogenesis in the embryo.
The kinase AMPK, a sensor of cellular energy stress, has been shown to oppose the growth-promoting activity of YAP, the transcriptional co-activator downstream of the Hippo signalling pathway. This finding may help to explain why the antidiabetic drug metformin, for which AMPK is a key effector, is linked to cancer-protective activity.
Visvader and colleagues report that in the mouse mammary gland, EGF and mTOR signalling induce expression of the anti-apoptotic Bcl2 family member Mcl-1 and show that this is required for the survival of milk-producing mammary epithelial cells.
Rodeheffer and colleagues show that a high-fat diet in mice activates Akt2 signalling in adipocyte precursors within white adipose tissue deposits, leading to their proliferation and differentiation into adipocytes, and to obesity.
Chai and colleagues report that Gli1-expressing cells within the mouse cranial suture mesenchyme contribute to all cranial bones, and their ablation leads to impaired skull injury repair, skull growth arrest and osteoporosis.
Using light-sheet microscopy to image tissue flows, Weijer and colleagues demonstrate that myosin-II-driven changes in cell shape and cell intercalation contribute to primitive streak formation in chick embryos.
Trepat and colleagues conduct a systematic analysis of how key cell–cell adhesion molecules affect intercellular forces and epithelial monolayer dynamics.
Tanaka and colleagues find that aurora B regulates end-on versus lateral kinetochore–microtubule attachments differently to ensure that chromosomes orient correctly for segregation in mitosis.
Bershadsky and colleagues show that cells confined to circular adhesive patterns exhibit defined and dynamic self-assembly of their actin cytoskeleton into a chiral pattern with defined handedness, potentially informing left–right cell asymmetry.
By live imaging of mouse oocytes, Verlhac and colleagues demonstrate that actin-coated vesicles together with myosin Vb participate in centring of the nucleus by creating a gradient of cytoplasmic forces.
Ishiwata and colleagues demonstrate that actin and myosin II can spontaneously form a contractile ring structure when constrained in a cell-size droplet and that this is regulated by myosin concentration and oligomerization state.
In two related papers, Chen and colleagues and Guan and colleagues report a crucial role for the AMPK and Hippo pathways in glucose homeostasis. Starvation triggers AMPK-mediated phosphorylation and inactivation of YAP.
In two related papers, Chen and colleagues and Guan and colleagues report a crucial role for the AMPK and Hippo pathways in glucose homeostasis. Starvation triggers AMPK-mediated phosphorylation and inactivation of YAP.
Sabapathy and colleagues report that under hypoxic conditions, HIF-1α-mediated repression of the Siah1 ubiquitin ligases leads to stabilization of TAp73, which in turn promotes tumour angiogenesis.
Bergert et al. use theoretical modelling and cell-based experiments to show that adhesion-independent cell migration is powered by nonspecific substrate friction, with smaller forces exerted compared with those of focal-adhesion-dependent movement.
