Cell biology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current tools for optogenetic control of intracellular calcium signals currently suffer from slow response time or low dynamic range. Here the authors develop blue light-activated Ca2+ channel switch (BACCS) that modulates the activity of Ca2+-sensitive Orai channels with high temporal resolution and large dynamic range.

    • Tomohiro Ishii
    • , Koji Sato
    •  & Takao Nakata

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Staphylococci are spherical bacteria that divide in sequential orthogonal planes. Here, the authors use super-resolution microscopy to show that staphylococcal cells elongate before dividing, and that the division septum generates less than one hemisphere of each daughter cell, generating asymmetry.

    • João M. Monteiro
    • , Pedro B. Fernandes
    •  & Mariana G. Pinho

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sperm use external cues to find the egg using ill-defined principles. Here the authors use holographic microscopy and optochemical tools to study sperm swimming in light-sculpted chemical 3D landscapes; they show that sperm translate the temporal stimulation pattern into multiple swimming behaviours to orient deterministically in a gradient.

    • Jan F. Jikeli
    • , Luis Alvarez
    •  & U. Benjamin Kaupp

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Assembly of a collagen extracellular matrix requires the presence of fibronectin, but the mechanisms that direct this assembly are not known. Here the authors show that collagen I uses relaxed fibronectin fibrils as a template for assembly, and in turn shield fibronectin fibrils from force-mediated stretching.

    • Kristopher E. Kubow
    • , Radmila Vukmirovic
    •  & Viola Vogel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The proapoptotic protein Bax triggers cell death by forming pores in the outer mitochondrial membrane. Using single-particle TIRF imaging, the authors show that Bax binds the membrane in a monomeric state before forming dimers and multimers of dimers, which are disassembled by the survival protein Bcl-xL.

    • Yamunadevi Subburaj
    • , Katia Cosentino
    •  & Ana J. García-Sáez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The kinesin-3 motor KIF1A is inefficient in its single-headed form but recent studies have predicted that force transmission is enabled when motors work in teams. Here Oriola et al.show that singleheaded KIF1A motors can pull tubes from lipid vesicles, and form left-handed helices around microtubules by generating lateral forces.

    • David Oriola
    • , Sophie Roth
    •  & Jaume Casademunt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vascular function and repair is impaired in patients with diabetes. Here, Caporali et al.report that activation of the neurotrophin receptor in vascular endothelial cells induces the antiangiogenic miR-503, which impairs the function of neighbouring pericytes upon microparticle-mediated transfer.

    • Andrea Caporali
    • , Marco Meloni
    •  & Costanza Emanueli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cells respond to increasing concentrations of EGF by altering the balance between EGFR phosphorylation and ubiquitination. Here the authors show that the establishment of an EGFR signaling threshold requires both a multiplicity of binding sites and cooperative binding of Cbl and Grb2 to the EGFR.

    • Fabrizio Capuani
    • , Alexia Conte
    •  & Andrea Ciliberto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During mitosis, mitochondria partition into daughter cells through microtubule-based transport. Here the authors show that the mitochondrial protein Miro and the cytoskeletal-associated protein Cenp-F interact in a cell-cycle dependent manner to promote microtubule-directed movement of mitochondria.

    • Gil Kanfer
    • , Thibault Courthéoux
    •  & Benoît Kornmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Super-resolution imaging of microtubules requires labels that increase their apparent diameter, making it difficult to resolve individual microtubules within a bundle. Here, the authors develop single-chain antibody fragments against tubulin that enable closely spaced individual microtubules to be distinguished in cells.

    • Marina Mikhaylova
    • , Bas M. C. Cloin
    •  & Lukas C Kapitein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tumour cells can survive by evading cell death pathways and altering their metabolism to adapt to their local environment. In this study, Iansanteet al. show that the anti-apoptotic protein PARP14 maintains low PKM2 activity, leading to enhanced glycolysis, demonstrating a link between suppression of apoptosis and altered metabolism.

    • Valeria Iansante
    • , Pui Man Choy
    •  & Salvatore Papa

  • Article |

    The regulatory subunits (RI) of protein kinase A (PKA) form a disulfide bond in response to cellular hydrogen peroxide. Here the authors show that disulfide-activation of PKARIa regulates VEGF-induced angiogenesis in mice and may represent a new therapeutic target in diseases with abnormal angiogenesis.

    • Joseph R. Burgoyne
    • , Olena Rudyk
    •  & Philip Eaton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The ryanodine receptor (RyR) is a large multi-domain ion channel that functions to release calcium from the endoplasmic or sarcoplasmic reticulum. Here the authors present crystal structures of the SPRY1 and tandem repeat domains of RyR, allowing precise positioning of the domains and linking disease mutations to RyR function.

    • Zhiguang Yuchi
    • , Siobhan M. Wong King Yuen
    •  & Filip Van Petegem

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Insulin resistance in adipose tissue is a hallmark of obesity. Here, the authors generate inducible adipocyte-specific PTEN knockout mice to demonstrate that enhanced insulin sensitivity in adipose tissue is directly linked to improved systemic metabolic homeostasis, despite an increase in fat mass.

    • Thomas S. Morley
    • , Jonathan Y. Xia
    •  & Philipp E. Scherer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Newts can regenerate amputated limbs via unknown mechanism involving dedifferentiation of cells in the stump into progenitors that contribute to the new appendages. Here the authors show that skeletal muscle dedifferentiation in regenerating newt limbs relies on a diverted programmed cell death response by myofibers.

    • Heng Wang
    • , Sara Lööf
    •  & András Simon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Endothelial cell activation by inflammation requires extracellular ATP release. Here the authors show that TNF-α induces Src-family kinase-dependent ATP release by Pannexin1 channels in endothelial cells, and that Pannexin1 is required for leukocyte adhesion and emigration into the inflamed tissue.

    • Alexander W. Lohman
    • , Igor L. Leskov
    •  & Brant E. Isakson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    CD163 is a glycoprotein receptor expressed on the surface of macrophages. Here, the authors demonstrate that a soluble form of CD163 can act as a decoy receptor for the pro inflammatory cytokine TWEAK, thereby revealing a new mechanism for the regulation of tissue repair after ischaemic injury.

    • Hirokuni Akahori
    • , Vinit Karmali
    •  & Aloke V. Finn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The question of whether recombination rate increases with maternal age is controversial, with conflicting prior evidence. Here, Martin et al.analyse nine cohorts in the largest SNP-based analysis of this question and find a small positive increase with maternal age in the number of crossovers.

    • Hilary C. Martin
    • , Ryan Christ
    •  & Peter Donnelly

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The myelin sheath on vertebrate axons is critical for neural impulse transmission, but whether electrically active axons are preferentially myelinated by glial cells, is not clear. Here the authors show that cultured oligodendrocytes preferentially myelinate electrically active axons via a mechanism dependent on nonsynaptic vesicular release of glutamate.

    • Hiroaki Wake
    • , Fernando C. Ortiz
    •  & R. Douglas Fields

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single molecule methods for measuring load dependence are fundamental for molecular motor research. Here, Sung et al. introduce harmonic force spectroscopy, a method that randomly applies varying loads at high frequency, allowing the determination of load dependent parameters of human β-cardiac myosin at physiological ATP concentration.

    • Jongmin Sung
    • , Suman Nag
    •  & James A. Spudich

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The protein kinase MEKK3 interacts with CCM2, which is associated with the predominantly cerebrovascular CCM disease. Here the authors use structural, biochemical, cell biology and in vivotechniques to show that regulation of Rho signalling by the CCM2:MEKK3 complex is needed to maintain neurovascular integrity.

    • Oriana S. Fisher
    • , Hanqiang Deng
    •  & Bing Su

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Some colon carcinomas with microsatellite instability carry a frameshift mutation in a tumour suppressor UVRAG. Here the authors show that mutant UVRAG triggers colorectal cancer by antagonizing the activity of normal UVRAG in autophagy and chromosomal stability, but also sensitizes the cancer to DNA damage-inducing chemotherapeutic drugs.

    • Shanshan He
    • , Zhen Zhao
    •  & Chengyu Liang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phospholipid trafficking between membranes is essential to maintain the structural integrity and function of membrane-bound cellular compartments. Here the authors establish the structural basis for transport of phosphatidic acid between the outer and inner membranes of the mitochondria by the Ups1–Mdm35 lipid-transport complex.

    • Yasunori Watanabe
    • , Yasushi Tamura
    •  & Toshiya Endo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Changes in protein–protein interactions result in changes to cellular phenotype. Here the authors use crosslinking mass spectrometry to derive a quantitative protein interaction network in drug-sensitive and -resistant HeLa cells, and uncover a chemoresistant ‘edgotype’.

    • Juan D. Chavez
    • , Devin K. Schweppe
    •  & James E. Bruce

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite normalization of the CA125 serum biomarker at the completion of carboplatin therapy the vast majority of patients with high grade serous ovarian cancers relapse. Here, Janzen et al., identify a sub-population of tumor cells that are CA125 negative, cancer initiating and platinum resistant but readily eliminated with the addition of apoptosis enhancing drugs to carboplatin.

    • D. M. Janzen
    • , E. Tiourin
    •  & S. Memarzadeh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    ER stress is associated with the pathogenesis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and new CKD therapies are needed. Here the authors show that expression of Rtn1 can control severity of renal disease and that inhibition of its expression can attenuate ER stress and CKD.

    • Ying Fan
    • , Wenzhen Xiao
    •  & John C. He

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During the formation of vascular sprouts, Notch activation inhibits proliferation of the stalk ECs via unknown mechanism. Here the authors show that PTEN represents a critical mediator of Notch anti-proliferative response in stalk cells via its phosphatase-dependent and -independent activity.

    • Helena Serra
    • , Iñigo Chivite
    •  & Mariona Graupera

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Autophagy is a catabolic process whereby cellular components are degraded by the autophagosome, but the role of the actin cytoskeleton is not clear. Here Coutts and La Thangue show that the actin nucleator JMY is recruited to the autophagosome via binding LC3, and promotes actin nucleation that is required for autophagosome maturation.

    • Amanda S. Coutts
    •  & Nicholas B. La Thangue

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mutations in the serine/threonine kinase ataxia teleangiectasia mutated (ATM) have been linked to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cohorts. Here Russellet al. show that loss of ATM induces a greater number of proliferative precursor lesions in a mouse model, recapitulating many features of human PDAC subtypes.

    • Ronan Russell
    • , Lukas Perkhofer
    •  & Alexander Kleger

  • Article |

    Changes in the metabolic state of stem cells can trigger a shift from quiescence into cell cycle entry. Here Maryanovichet al. identify mitochondrial carrier homolog 2 (MCH2) as a negative regulator of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in haematopoietic stem cells, maintaining their homeostasis.

    • Maria Maryanovich
    • , Yehudit Zaltsman
    •  & Atan Gross

  • Article
    | Open Access

    14-3-3 family proteins are adaptor proteins involved in various cellular functions. Here Lim et al. show that 14-3-3ζ regulates adipogenesis in vitro, and the formation of visceral fat in mice, by reducing autophagic degradation of the adipogenic master transcription factor C/EBP-δ.

    • Gareth E. Lim
    • , Tobias Albrecht
    •  & James D. Johnson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The bacterium Legionella pneumophila, a causative agent of severe pneumonia, replicates inside an endoplasmic reticulum-like organelle in the host cells. Here, Treacy-Abarca and Mukherjee show that the pathogen dampens the host’s unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway by multiple mechanisms.

    • Sean Treacy-Abarca
    •  & Shaeri Mukherjee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate gene expression by association with chromatin. Here, the authors show that lncRNA MEG3regulates the TGF-β pathway by bridging the interactions between polycomb repressive complex 2 and the distal regulatory elements of the TGF-β pathway genes via formation of RNA–DNA triplexes.

    • Tanmoy Mondal
    • , Santhilal Subhash
    •  & Chandrasekhar Kanduri

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The level of chromatin condensation and gene expression is believed to be inversely correlated. Here the authors show that the transcriptionally silent telomere regions are flanked by highly condensed chromatin, and are less condensed than euchromatin in the interphase of Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

    • Atsushi Matsuda
    • , Yuji Chikashige
    •  & Yasushi Hiraoka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Proteins that bend membranes often contain curvature-promoting structural motifs such as wedges or crescent-shaped domains. Busch et al.report that intrinsically disordered domains can also drive membrane curvature and provide evidence that steric pressure driven by protein crowding mediates this effect.

    • David J. Busch
    • , Justin R. Houser
    •  & Jeanne C. Stachowiak

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