Cytoskeleton articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Dysregulation of centrosome size and number is frequently associated with cancer. Fogeron et al. construct a protein-interaction network to identify proteins that are relevant for centrosome abnormalities in cancer, and show that deregulation of LGALS3BP affects centrosomal biogenesis.

    • Marie-Laure Fogeron
    • , Hannah Müller
    •  & Bodo M.H. Lange

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During mitosis, kinesin-5 motors are thought to crosslink microtubules in a muscle-like sliding filament mechanism. By combining electron microscopy with other structural tools, the authors reveal how four kinesin-5 polypeptides are organized into bipolar minifilaments.

    • Seyda Acar
    • , David B. Carlson
    •  & Jonathan M. Scholey

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The motor protein myosin-V transports cargo along actin filaments, but the biophysical mechanisms by which myosin-V generates force are unclear. Here, optical tweezers and a DNA handle are used to study the forces generated by myosin-V: the mechanism of force generation is found to depend on the load applied.

    • Keisuke Fujita
    • , Mitsuhiro Iwaki
    •  & Toshio Yanagida

  • Article |

    Processes that regulate the mechanical and dynamic properties of actin cytoskeleton are important for multiple eukaryotic cell functions. In this study, using reconstituted crosslinked actin networks, organization is found to be determined by the competing kinetics of actin gelation and bundle formation.

    • Tobias T. Falzone
    • , Martin Lenz
    •  & Margaret L. Gardel

  • Article |

    Platelets are formed from megakaryocytes but the exact mechanisms are unknown. Thonet al.describe circular preplatelets and barbell shaped proplatelets in human blood and demonstrate, with the aid of a mathematical model, a role for microtubule-based forces in regulating final platelet size.

    • Jonathan N Thon
    • , Hannah Macleod
    •  & Joseph E. Italiano Jr

  • Article |

    Kinesin-1 is a motor protein that transports cargo along microtubules and defects in this process can result in neurodegeneration. In this study, a role for casein kinase 2 in regulating the activity of Kinesin-1 is reported, suggesting that signalling molecules can modulate this transport process.

    • Jing Xu
    • , Babu J. N. Reddy
    •  & Steven P. Gross

  • Article |

    Interpolar microtubules were thought to be indispensable for eukaryotic cell division. Here, Akera and colleagues demonstrate that the second division of meiosis in yeast can occur in the absence of interpolar microtubules, and identify the forespore membrane as a force producing structure in cell division.

    • Takashi Akera
    • , Masamitsu Sato
    •  & Masayuki Yamamoto

  • Article |

    The role of phosphatidylinositol(4,5)bisphosphate in exocytosis is unclear. This study shows that inhibition of the p110δ isoform of PI3-kinase promotes a transient increase in phosphatidylinositol(4,5)bisphosphate, leading to a potentiation of exocytosis in chromaffin cells.

    • Peter J. Wen
    • , Shona L. Osborne
    •  & Frédéric A. Meunier

  • Article |

    The development of radial progenitor cells and astroglia in the cerebral cortex depends on the microtubule cytoskeleton. Eomet al. have developed a new mouse model where the microtubules of astrocytes and radial glia cells are fluorescently tagged, facilitating the detailed study of microtubule dynamics and development in these cells.

    • Tae-Yeon Eom
    • , Amelia Stanco
    •  & E.S. Anton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How microtubules are organized correctly in plant cells is not well understood. Ambroseet al. use 4D imaging and computer modelling to show that sharp cell edges induce microtubule depolymerization and that the microtubule-associated protein CLASP mitigates this process to modulate array organization.

    • Chris Ambrose
    • , Jun F. Allard
    •  & Geoffrey O. Wasteneys

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cytoplasmic flows—the movement of cytoplasmic material—can be detected following the fertilization of an egg by a sperm in many species. In this study, rhythmic cytoplasmic flows are shown to be induced in mice by calcium-induced cytoskeleton contractions which could be used to predict the successful outcome of fertilization.

    • Anna Ajduk
    • , Tagbo Ilozue
    •  & Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz

  • Article |

    Cell division and cilium formation are dependent on centrosomes that consist of two centrioles and pericentriolar material (PCM). In this study, the Sas-4 protein is shown to be important in mediating the formation of cytoplasmic PCM complexes and the incorporation of this material into centrosomes.

    • Jayachandran Gopalakrishnan
    • , Vito Mennella
    •  & Tomer Avidor-Reiss

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Asymmetric partitioning of centrosomes has been reported inDrosophilaneuroblasts, but whether this type of division has implications for stem cell self-renewal is unclear. In this study, the authors show that the asymmetric division of the centrosomes correlates with the asymmetric fate of the cells and that the daughter centrosome is retained by the neuroblast.

    • Jens Januschke
    • , Salud Llamazares
    •  & Cayetano Gonzalez

  • Article |

    Materials such as rubber tend to soften when cyclically deformed. Here, however, the authors find that bundled actin networks can show cyclic hardening and retain a memory of the maximum strain they have been subjected to.

    • K. M. Schmoller
    • , P. Fernández
    •  & A. R. Bausch

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