Browse Articles

Guo, Hong et al. report that TET2 condensation maintains proper DNA demethylation at specific genomic loci, which can be targeted to alter gene expression and impair leukaemia growth.

de Caestecker and Macara study apical sorting of proteins with varying cytoplasmic tail length in epithelial cells. They propose that a size filter at the Golgi facilitates apical sorting of proteins with small cytoplasmic domains.

Tamagawa, Fujii et al. demonstrate that squamous differentiation in human pancreatic cancer can be attributed to TP63-mediated lineage conversion and epigenetic reprogramming that depends upon a hypoxic and Wnt-defective niche.

The tumour microenvironment propagates stress responses in resident cells. In tumour-infiltrating natural killer (NK) cells, the HSF1 transcription factor binds to mediators of effector function, negatively regulating NK cytotoxicity. These findings provide important mechanistic insights that may enhance NK cell cancer therapy.

Pluripotent stem cells are being used to generate models of early embryogenesis that are promising for discovery and translational research. To be useful, these models require critical consideration of their level of efficiency and fidelity to natural embryos. Here we propose criteria with which to raise the standards of stem-cell-based embryo models of human embryogenesis.

Hockemeyer et al. demonstrate that HSF1 activation inhibits cytokine production and cytotoxic activity in NK cells to impair anti-tumour immune responses.

Man and Kanneganti discuss how pattern-recognition sensors in innate immune cells recognize and respond to cell-death signatures, and highlight molecular targets for potential therapeutic development.

Eroglu et al. describe protein amyloid structures that are stably inherited across generations and transmit epigenetic memory in Caenorhabditis elegans. MSTR protein loss results in a transgenerational feminization phenotype through ectopic GLD-1 expression.

Dimitrov et al. present LIANA+, a framework that unifies and extends approaches to study inter- and intracellular signalling from diverse mediators, captured from single-cell, spatially resolved and multi-omics data.

Cao et al. describe the development and application of an engineered protein system (MARS) derived from PLEKHA5 that allows mitosis-specific recruitment of proteins to the plasma membrane to study protein function in cell division.

Park et al. show that cells with impaired autophagy shuttle cytoplasmic proteins to the nucleus for degradation by nuclear proteasomes, revealing synergistic vulnerabilities in diseases where autophagy and nucleocytoplasmic transport are compromised.

Using single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of bone-colonizing tumour cells and in vivo screening, lymphotoxin-β (LTβ) was identified as a key factor promoting bone colonization and outgrowth of breast cancer metastases. Blocking LTβ signalling significantly suppressed bone metastasis, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic target for breast cancer with bone metastatic disease.

Ramskold, Hendriks, Larsson et al. use deep single-cell profiling of newly transcribed RNA to uncover the kinetics and dynamics of transcriptional bursting at allelic resolution in primary mouse cells.

Gasdermins are a family of proteins that form membrane pores and elicit pyroptosis. This Review discusses recent work highlighting their regulation and emerging biological roles, including in non-lethal pore formation and host defence.

In cells migrating through complex three-dimensional microenvironments, microtubules are adaptively reinforced at areas of high compressive stress. This reinforcement controls the release of microtubule-bound contractility effectors to locally modify force generation in space and time, enabling motility and cell survival in mechanically strenuous settings.

Autophagy decreases with age, and this is in part attributed to increasing levels of the autophagy-suppressing protein Rubicon. Cell biologists now find another ageing-associated function for Rubicon — the release of exosomes containing microRNAs that control senescence and longevity.

Yanagawa et al. show that the autophagy-related protein Rubicon recruits WIPI2d to endosomes to promote exosome biogenesis. Rubicon promotes both an increase in exosome release during ageing and the pro-senescent effects of these exosomes.

Kodali, Proietti et al. report that increased numbers of P-bodies in leukaemia cells account for sequestration and prevention of tumour-suppressive mRNAs from being translated, which could be targeted as a potential intervention in myeloid leukaemia.

Hamazaki, Yang et al. report that an early pulse of retinoic acid robustly induces human gastruloids with a neural tube, segmented somites and more advanced cell types than conventional gastruloids.

Ju et al. show that during three-dimensional cell migration, compression recruits cytoplasmic linker-associated proteins to microtubules; these stabilized microtubules then coordinate nuclear positioning and contractility in confined migration.