Cell growth articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The quiescence-exit process is noisy even in genetically identical cells under the same environmental conditions. Here the authors show that the heterogeneity of quiescence exit reflects a memory of preceding cell growth at quiescence induction and immediate division history prior to quiescence entry.

    • Xia Wang
    • , Kotaro Fujimaki
    •  & Guang Yao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Protein MreB participates in elongation of sidewalls during growth of most rod-shaped bacteria. Here, the authors use fluorescence microscopy and single-particle tracking to visualize MreB, showing thatBacillus subtilis and Escherichia coliappear to use different strategies to adapt to growth rate variations.

    • Cyrille Billaudeau
    • , Arnaud Chastanet
    •  & Rut Carballido-López

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In response to gut epithelial damage,Drosophilastem cells proliferate to produce large polyploid enterocytes (EC), which comprise the bulk of the epithelium. Here, the authors show that stress-dependent EGFR/MAP kinase signalling drives both endoreplication and cell growth in newborn ECs.

    • Jinyi Xiang
    • , Jennifer Bandura
    •  & Bruce A. Edgar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanistic coupling of cell growth and cell cycle control with cell size regulation in tissues is not well understood. Here, the authors show that within the shoot apical meristem of Arabidopsis cell size depends on developmental stage, genotype and environmental signals; however cell growth and cell division are cell-autonomously coordinated.

    • Angharad R. Jones
    • , Manuel Forero-Vargas
    •  & James A. H. Murray

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stat4 is a transcription factor known to regulate pro-inflammatory signalling. Here, Menget al. show that Stat4 is not only regulating inflammation but it is also crucial for great vessels development and endothelial precursor proliferation in zebrafish, by inhibiting the expression of hdac3and counteracting the effect of Stat1a.

    • Zhao-Zheng Meng
    • , Wei Liu
    •  & Yong Zhou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    mTORC1 and mTORC2 are alternatively required for differentiation of T cells into Th1/Th17 or Th2 cells. Here the authors show mTORC2 signalling is also needed for IL-4-induced M2 activation with functional evidence provided by aN. brasiliensisinfection model and cold challenge to model adaptive thermogenesis.

    • R. W. Hallowell
    • , S. L. Collins
    •  & M. R. Horton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inhibitors of the mTORC1 pathway are considered anti-cancer drugs. Here, the authors show that on nutrient restriction, glutaminolysis-induced activation of mTORC1 induces apoptosis via inhibiting autophagy, highlighting that under such conditions inhibition of mTORC1 results in survival of cancer cells.

    • Victor H. Villar
    • , Tra Ly Nguyen
    •  & Raúl V. Durán

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organisms improve their fitness by adjusting their gene expression to the environment, for example bacteria scale the expression of metabolic enzymes near linearly to their growth rate. Here, the authors show that such linear scaling often maximizes growth rate, but that linear scaling is suboptimal under some conditions.

    • Benjamin D. Towbin
    • , Yael Korem
    •  & Uri Alon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Collagen has a role in cancer and is particularly important for breast cancer. Here the authors show that the expression of α3 type V collagen and one of its receptors- glipican-1- in the same cell, contributes to a deregulated growth of breast cancer cells.

    • Guorui Huang
    • , Gaoxiang Ge
    •  & Daniel S. Greenspan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inhibition of PI3K/mTOR, which mimics nutrient starvation, causes death of detached but not matrix-attached cancer cells. Here the authors show that nutrient restriction of epithelial cells causes uptake of the matrix protein laminin, which results in increased intracellular amino acids and enhanced mTORC1 signalling.

    • Taru Muranen
    • , Marcin P. Iwanicki
    •  & Nada Y. Kalaany

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Oncogenic mutations of isocitrate dehydrogenases 1 and 2 result in the production of the oncometabolite R-2-hydroxyglutarate. Here the authors show that the oncometabolite promotes mTOR activation in a PTEN/PI3K-independent manner by regulating DEPTOR stability via inhibition of KDM4A activity.

    • Mélissa Carbonneau
    • , Laurence M. Gagné
    •  & Frédérick A. Mallette

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How genetic diversity generates complex phenotypes along a continuum remains a fundamental question of biology. Here—applying the emerging SWATH proteomics technology—the authors describe a proteome wide association study (PWAS) of Drosophila wing size and identify functional protein clusters associated with this trait.

    • Hirokazu Okada
    • , H. Alexander Ebhardt
    •  & Ernst Hafen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mrf4 is a transcription factor important for muscle development, but despite high expression its function in adults is unknown. Here the authors show that interfering with Mrf4 in adult mice leads to muscle hypertrophy by activating MEF2-dependent transcription and promoting protein synthesis.

    • Irene Moretti
    • , Stefano Ciciliot
    •  & Stefano Schiaffino

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Branching morphogenesis is essential for the formation of most epithelial organs. Here, the authors show that Neurofibromatosis 2 (NF2), the Hippo pathway kinases LATS1 and LATS2, and the transcriptional co-activators YAP and TAZ control tip identity, RET signalling and branching morphogenesis in the mouse kidney.

    • Antoine Reginensi
    • , Leonie Enderle
    •  & Helen McNeill

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The molecular mechanisms regulating myelination are only partially understood. Here authors show that Tsc1ablation in oligodendrocyte lineage activates ER stress and apoptotic programs in mice, and that enhancing PERK-eIF2α signalling partially rescues the myelination defects in Tsc1 mutants.

    • Minqing Jiang
    • , Lei Liu
    •  & Q. Richard Lu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ceruloplasmin has an important role in the stabilization and nuclear transport of HIF-1α, thus regulating VEGF expression. Here the authors show that the transcription factor SARI reduces colorectal cancer growth and angiogenesis in vivoby inducing the degradation of ceruloplasmin, thereby inhibiting the HIFα/VEGF axis.

    • Lei Dai
    • , Xueliang Cui
    •  & Hongxin Deng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    14-3-3 proteins regulate several signalling pathways but often act redundantly; however, the molecular mechanisms behind such redundancy are unclear. Here, the authors show that 14-3-3 proteins regulate two interacting components of Tor signalling in Drosophila, Tctp and Rheb, disrupting organ development.

    • Thao Phuong Le
    • , Linh Thuong Vuong
    •  & Kwang-Wook Choi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Circular RNAs are formed from exon back-splicing, the significance of these endogenous RNAs is beginning to be unraveled. Here, the authors identify thousands of circular RNAs differentially expressed between normal and cancer tissues and show that an abundant circular RNA generated from HIPK3regulates cell growth.

    • Qiupeng Zheng
    • , Chunyang Bao
    •  & Shenglin Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    mTORC1 is crucial for chondrocyte proliferation and bone growth, but the downstream signalling is not clear. Here, the authors use rapamycin and chondrocyte-specific Tsc1 knockout mice to show that S6K1 can cause nuclear accumulation of Gli2, thus driving PTHrP expression and preventing terminal differentiation of prehypertrophic chondrocytes.

    • Bo Yan
    • , Zhongmin Zhang
    •  & Xiaochun Bai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ternary complex (TC) and eIF4F complex assembly are rate-limiting steps in translation initiation that are regulated by eIF2α phosphorylation and the mTOR/4E-BP pathway. Here the authors show that the protein kinases mTORC1 and CK2 coordinate TC and eIF4F complex assembly through eIF2β to stimulate cell proliferation.

    • Valentina Gandin
    • , Laia Masvidal
    •  & Ivan Topisirovic

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Drosophila neural stem cells (NSCs) are quiescent at early larval stages but how this is regulated is unclear. Here, Ding et al. show that quiescence of NSCs is mediated by cell-contact inhibition via the Hippo pathway transmembrane proteins Crumbs and Echinoid, which in turn are regulated by nutrient levels.

    • Rouven Ding
    • , Kevin Weynans
    •  & Christian Berger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Set8-Set7 methyltransferase plays a critical role in cell cycle progression and tumorigenesis, and is degraded through modification by the E3 ubiquitin ligase CRL4Cdt2. Here Wang et al. identify SCFβ-TRCPas an additional E3 ubiquitin ligase that marks Set8 for degradation in response to DNA damage.

    • Zhiwei Wang
    • , Xiangpeng Dai
    •  & Wenyi Wei

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Research on the gut microbiota would benefit from improved methods to study microbial population growth. Here, Myhrvold et al. present a ‘mark and recapture’ method that uses genetically encoded fluorescent particles to measure the growth rates of gut microbes in live animals.

    • Cameron Myhrvold
    • , Jonathan W. Kotula
    •  & Pamela A. Silver

  • Article
    | Open Access

    AMPK senses cellular energy and switches off pathways involved in protein and fatty acid synthesis, but the selectivity of AMPK for different pathways is unclear. Here, the authors show that PIAS4-dependent SUMOylation and inactivation of AMPK preferentially restores activity of the mTORC1 pathway.

    • Yan Yan
    • , Saara Ollila
    •  & Tomi P. Mäkelä

  • Article
    | Open Access

    SETDB1 is a histone methyltransferase and a role for the protein has been proposed in cancer. Here, the authors show that SETDB1 contributes to hepatocellular cancer by preferably forming a complex with mutant p53, resulting in di-methylation of a critical lysine residue and stabilization of the protein.

    • Qi Fei
    • , Ke Shang
    •  & Jianyong Shou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In fission yeast, cell growth is co-ordinated with division by the cell tip-localized DYRK kinase Pom1, which inhibits the medially placed mitotic activator Cdr2. Here, Kelkar and Martin show that, upon glucose starvation, microtubules are destabilized in a PKA-dependent manner, leading to the deposition of Pom1 at cell sides where it delays mitosis.

    • Manasi Kelkar
    •  & Sophie G. Martin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A variety of signals have been reported to either activate or inhibit the Hippo kinase cascade. Here, Meng et al. show that mitogen activated protein kinase kinase kinase kinase (MAP4K) family members function in parallel to and are partially redundant with MST1/2 in regulating LATS in response to upstream signals.

    • Zhipeng Meng
    • , Toshiro Moroishi
    •  & Kun-Liang Guan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Components of the Hippo signalling pathway localize to apical junctions in epithelial cells, where they regulate growth in response to mechanical and biochemical cues. Sun et al. show that these proteins are organized into distinct junctional complexes, which reorganize up on Hippo pathway activation.

    • Shuguo Sun
    • , B. V. V. G. Reddy
    •  & Kenneth D. Irvine

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Essential amino acids such as leucine activate mTORC1 signalling after entering the lysosome, but the molecular basis for lysosomal amino-acid uptake is unclear. Here Milkereit et al. show that LAPTM4b, a lysosomal membrane protein, recruits a leucine transporter to the lysosome and promotes amino-acid influx and mTORC1 signalling.

    • Ruth Milkereit
    • , Avinash Persaud
    •  & Daniela Rotin

  • Article |

    Angiogenesis is regulated by dynamic changes in endothelial cell contact. Here, the authors show that signals from endothelial cell junctions affect the subcellular localization and function of Yes-associated protein, ultimately modifying angiopoietin-2 expression and angiogenic activity of endothelial cells.

    • Hyun-Jung Choi
    • , Haiying Zhang
    •  & Young-Guen Kwon

  • Article |

    Transcriptional regulators Sox2 and YAP maintain expression of stemness genes in normal and cancerous cells. Here the authors show that, in osteosarcomas, Sox2 activates YAP by directly repressing transcription of its upstream negative regulators Nf2 and WWC1, promoting cancer cell stemness.

    • Upal Basu-Roy
    • , N. Sumru Bayin
    •  & Claudio Basilico

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cells grown on a stiff substrate are stimulated through physical cues to spread, create actin stress fibres and proliferate. Here Cui et al. show that cyclic stretching cells on a soft pillar substrate has the same effect as growth on a stiff substrate, and results in nuclear translocation of YAP and MRTF-A.

    • Yidan Cui
    • , Feroz M. Hameed
    •  & Michael Sheetz

  • Article |

    The Hippo pathway plays a role in regulating organ size and stem cell renewal but the regulatory mechanisms that fine-tune this pathway are not well understood. Here the authors report on the role of NEDD4 as a negative regulator of the Hippo signalling components, WW45 and LATS kinase, and in controlling cell proliferation and intestinal stem cell homeostasis.

    • Sung Jun Bae
    • , Myungjin Kim
    •  & Jae Hong Seol

  • Article |

    The Yes-associated protein (YAP) is a core effector of the Hippo pathway, which regulates proliferation and apoptosis in organ development, but its function in adult skeletal muscle remains poorly defined. Here the authors show that YAP is an essential regulator of myofibre size in adult skeletal muscle, via interaction with TEAD transcription factors.

    • K. I. Watt
    • , B. J. Turner
    •  & P. Gregorevic

  • Article |

    Although much is known about the structural and trafficking molecules involved in generation of primary cilia, the signalling proteins that regulate ciliogenesis are poorly defined. Here, Kim et al. identify the MST1/2-SAV1 complex, a core component of the Hippo pathway, as a key regulator of ciliogenesis in cells and zebrafish.

    • Miju Kim
    • , Minchul Kim
    •  & Dae-Sik Lim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    LAMTOR2 is involved in mTOR and ERK signalling and plays a role in immunity, but its function in dendritic cells (DCs) is not clear. Here the authors show that deletion of LAMTOR2 in DCs results in increased mTOR signalling, accumulation of Flt3 on the cell surface and excessive DC proliferation in ageing mice.

    • Julia M. Scheffler
    • , Florian Sparber
    •  & Lukas A. Huber

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