Cell biology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Retracted neurites and disorganized actin filaments are major components of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles—hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. Here the authors show that soluble ß-amyloid impairs action potential firing by disrupting actin and microtubule filaments through the inhibition of HDAC6 and activation of RhoA.

    • Hanako Tsushima
    • , Marco Emanuele
    •  & Evelina Chieregatti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cell-to-cell communication relies upon interactions between secreted ligands and cell surface receptors. Here, Ramilowski et al.present a draft cell-to-cell communication network based on expression of ligand-receptor pairs in 144 different human cell types.

    • Jordan A. Ramilowski
    • , Tatyana Goldberg
    •  & Alistair R. R. Forrest

  • Article
    | Open Access

    IL6-STAT3 signaling is activated in prostate cancer, however inhibiting this pathway has not lead to a survival advantage in patients. Here, Pencik et al.show that loss of the IL6-STAT3 axis in mice and humans leads to metastasis due to loss of ARF, unravelling STAT3 and ARF as potential prognostic markers in prostate cancer.

    • Jan Pencik
    • , Michaela Schlederer
    •  & Lukas Kenner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    DOT1L is an anti-cancer therapeutic target in leukaemia but has a poorly understood role in solid tumours. Here the authors show that DOT1L expression is associated with poor survival and aggressive cancers by helping to epigenetically activate the epithelial-mesenchymal transition during breast cancer progression.

    • Min-Hyung Cho
    • , Ji-Hye Park
    •  & Gu Kong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    TGF-ß and IL-6 are the essential cytokines for mediating the differentiation of IL-17-producing CD4+ T helper cells (TH17). Here, Yoon et al. provide more insights into this process and describe the opposing roles of TGFß-signalling intermediates Smad2 and Smad3 as STAT3 cofactors in Th17 differentiation.

    • Jeong-Hwan Yoon
    • , Katsuko Sudo
    •  & Mizuko Mamura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phagocytes employ multiple bactericidal mechanisms to kill microorganisms, including the generation of toxic superoxide and other reactive oxygen species. Here the authors utilize a multi-omics approach to identify and characterize new regulatory nodes implicated in mucosal immunity that control phagocyte oxidative burst.

    • Daniel B. Graham
    • , Christine E. Becker
    •  & Ramnik J. Xavier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mutations and post-translational modifications of the PI3K/AKT pathway inhibitor PTEN are a feature of many cancers, but these have not been associated with cervical cancer. Here, the authors identify a PI3K/AKT-mediated ubiquitination degradation pathway of PTEN that occurs in patients with cervical cancer.

    • Min-Sik Lee
    • , Man-Hyung Jeong
    •  & Jaewhan Song

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Depletion of calcium from intracellular stores induces interaction between the endoplasmic reticulum STIM1 protein and the plasma membrane ORAI1 channel that facilitates cellular calcium entry. Here Ma et al. characterize a STIM1 gain-of-function mutant and propose a conformational switch that controls ORAI1 gating.

    • Guolin Ma
    • , Ming Wei
    •  & Yubin Zhou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The cellular protein RIG-I detects viral RNA and activates another protein, MAVS, which then forms filaments and stimulates an antiviral pathway. Here, the authors identify different regions within MAVS involved in activating transcription factors IRF3 and NF-κB, and in MAVS self-inhibition.

    • Yuheng Shi
    • , Bofeng Yuan
    •  & Fajian Hou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    N-terminal acetylation is a common protein modification in eukaryotes. Here the authors show that in Arabidopsis, N-terminal acetylation is decreased by drought stress, that abundance of an N-terminal acetyltransferase is reduced by abscisic acid and that constitutive downregulation can confer drought resistance.

    • Eric Linster
    • , Iwona Stephan
    •  & Markus Wirtz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    IDH1- and IDH2-mutant cancer cells aberrantly accumulate D2-hydroxyglutarate (D2-HG). Here, Lin et al. find loss-of-function mutations in D2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase (D2HGDH), which converts D2-HG to alpha-ketoglutarate (α-KG), in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas and show that D2HGDH via α-KG regulates the expression and activity of IDH2.

    • An-Ping Lin
    • , Saman Abbas
    •  & Ricardo C. T. Aguiar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The cellular function of small GTPases is regulated by switching between active (GTP-bound) and inactive (GDP-bound) states. Here the authors develop nucleotide analogues that can be covalently linked to GTPases via a strategically placed cysteine residue to lock the target GTPase in defined activation states.

    • David Wiegandt
    • , Sophie Vieweg
    •  & Roger S. Goody

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The capacity for thermoregulation deteriorates with age, particularly in cold environments. Here the authors demonstrate inDrosophilathat age-related changes in cold avoidance result from a shift in the relative contribution of two parallel mushroom body circuits that are modulated by dopamine.

    • Hsiang-Wen Shih
    • , Chia-Lin Wu
    •  & Ann-Shyn Chiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In mammalian oocytes, the meiotic spindle is assembled close to the centre of the cell and relocates to the cell periphery prior to chromosome segregation. Here Metchat et al. show that anaphase is delayed until the spindle is positioned close to the cell cortex, providing evidence for a spindle position checkpoint.

    • Aïcha Metchat
    • , Manuel Eguren
    •  & Jan Ellenberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synapsins anchor synaptic vesicles (SVs) to the actin cytoskeleton to establish the reserve vesicle pool. Here Tanget al. show that SUMOylation of synapsin 1a enhances its interaction with SVs to promote efficient reclustering following stimulation, and a mutation linked to autism and epilepsy leads to defective SUMOylation.

    • Leo T. -H. Tang
    • , Tim J. Craig
    •  & Jeremy M. Henley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organogenesis is orchestrated by biochemical and biophysical stimuli. Here, Ma et al. generate a micro-patterned surface that provides mechanical cues which, when combined with biochemical signals, drive human pluripotent stem cells’ differentiation into beating cardiac microchambers resembling primitive hearts.

    • Zhen Ma
    • , Jason Wang
    •  & Kevin E. Healy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    9-O-Acetylation is one of the most common modifications of sialic acids, implicated in sialoglycan recognition and ganglioside biology. Here, the authors show that the key enzyme for the biosynthesis of 9-O-acetylated sialoglycans is CASD1, which uses CMP-activated sialic acid as acceptor substrate.

    • Anna-Maria T. Baumann
    • , Mark J. G. Bakkers
    •  & Martina Mühlenhoff

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Directed cell migration requires spatially regulated activity of GTPases Rac1 and RhoA. Here Cao et al. show that growth factor stimulation promotes phosphorylation of tensin-3 and phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) and their association with PI 3-kinase and deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1) to regulate GTPase activity.

    • Xuan Cao
    • , Tomonori Kaneko
    •  & Shawn S. C. Li

  • Article |

    Mast cells are major contributors to allergy. Here the authors show that prostaglandin D2-deficient mast cells produce more chemoattractants, promoting mast cell hyperplasia and exacerbating allergic responses in a mouse model of food allergy.

    • Tatsuro Nakamura
    • , Shingo Maeda
    •  & Takahisa Murata

  • Article
    | Open Access

    TD-60 (RCC2) structurally resembles a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF), but its target GTPase was unknown. Here Papini et al.show that TD-60 is a GEF for RalA, and that RalA helps to regulate the chromosomal passenger complex and kinetochore–microtubule interactions in mitosis.

    • Diana Papini
    • , Lars Langemeyer
    •  & William C. Earnshaw

  • Article |

    CEP63 is a centrosomal protein that is mutated in the microcephaly disease Seckel syndrome. Here the authors disrupt Cep63 in the mouse and find that neural progenitor cells undergo p53-dependent cell death, and uncover a role for CEP63 in ensuring correct meiotic recombination in male gametes.

    • Marko Marjanović
    • , Carlos Sánchez-Huertas
    •  & Travis H. Stracker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Erosion of telomeres eventually causes replicative senescence, but mechanisms underlying the variability and dynamics of the pathway are not known. Here, the authors examine senescence in single yeast cells with inactivated telomerase to reveal two mechanistically distinct routes to senescence.

    • Zhou Xu
    • , Emilie Fallet
    •  & Maria Teresa Teixeira

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The EphA2 receptor tyrosine kinase is overexpressed in many cancers and is reported to be phosphorylated by Akt. Here, Zhou et al.show that RSK, rather than Akt, phosphorylates EphA2 on Ser-897, and this regulates cell migration and invasion of metastatic cancer cells.

    • Yue Zhou
    • , Naoki Yamada
    •  & Hiroaki Sakurai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Epithelial wound closure proceeds through both crawling into the wound and by constricting an actomyosin cable in a so-called purse-string mechanism. Here the authors show that the two mechanisms are mechanically coupled and the curvature of the wound regulates the overall dynamics of wound closure.

    • Andrea Ravasio
    • , Ibrahim Cheddadi
    •  & Benoit Ladoux

  • Article |

    Quantitative live cell imaging of protein trafficking suffers from misfolding and inappropriate disulphide bond formation of fluorescent proteins in the secretory pathway. Here, the authors present an optimized collection of fluorescent proteins suitable for use in oxidizing subcellular compartments.

    • Lindsey M. Costantini
    • , Mikhail Baloban
    •  & Erik L. Snapp

  • Article |

    The GP protein of the Ebola virus is involved in the detachment of infected cells, which eventually leads to vascular leakage and contributes to haemorrhagic fever. Here Hacke et al.show that the membrane-anchored subunit of GP is sufficient to induce cell detachment, and that cholesterol contributes to this process.

    • Moritz Hacke
    • , Patrik Björkholm
    •  & Andreas M. Ernst

  • Article |

    PTEN plays multiple roles in genome protection and tumour suppression. Here the authors show that PTEN depletion leads to impairment of replication progression, stalled fork recovery and diminished chromatin loading of Rad51, highlighting the interplay of PTEN with Rad51 in promoting stalled fork restart.

    • Jinxue He
    • , Xi Kang
    •  & Wen H. Shen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reprogramming holds great promise for regenerative medicine but the molecular mechanisms governing the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells remain unclear. Here, the authors reveal functions for the axonal guidance cue Netrin-1 in constraining apoptosis at the early stage of reprogramming and in established pluripotent cells.

    • Duygu Ozmadenci
    • , Olivier Féraud
    •  & Fabrice Lavial

  • Article |

    The cause of overactive bladder is largely unknown and there is currently no effective therapy. Gaoet al. show that a membrane protein Pirt controls bladder emptying by inhibiting the neuronal purinergic receptor P2X3 and that treatment with a small Pirt fragment prevents bladder overactivity in mice.

    • Xiao-Fei Gao
    • , Ji-Feng Feng
    •  & Cheng He

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Kidlins are proteins found in cell focal adhesion sites where they regulate integrins, and in the nucleus where their role is unknown. Here the authors show that Kindlin-2 controls chondrogenesis by regulating integrin b1 activation and Sox9 and TGF-β nuclear signalling.

    • Chuanyue Wu
    • , Hongli Jiao
    •  & Guozhi Xiao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Protein kinases expressed by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum represent potentially valuable drug targets. Alam et al. identify proteins whose phosphorylation is dependent on the kinase PfPKG, revealing a regulatory network controlling parasite egress from red blood cells and calcium signalling.

    • Mahmood M. Alam
    • , Lev Solyakov
    •  & Andrew B. Tobin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Aneuploidy may be fatal for the embryo, hence predicting its occurrence is important for successfulin vitrofertilization. Here the authors monitor development of human preimplantation embryos in real-time and correlate the blastomere ploidy with cleavage dynamics and gene expression, identifying 12-transcript signature that determines ploidy.

    • Maria Vera-Rodriguez
    • , Shawn L. Chavez
    •  & Carlos Simon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    CENP-E regulates chromosome alignment during mitosis to distribute chromosomes equally into daughter cells. Here, the authors show that CENP-E inhibition causes p53-mediated post-mitotic apoptosis in tumours where the spindle assembly checkpoint is compromised, suggesting that CENP-E is a therapeutic target for these cancers.

    • Akihiro Ohashi
    • , Momoko Ohori
    •  & Kentaro Iwata

  • Article |

    Allostery, communication between distant parts of a protein, is a key element of enzyme catalysis. Here the authors combine existing experimental data with molecular dynamics simulations and Markov state models to provide insight into the mechanism of ligand-induced allostery within the cyclicnucleotide-binding domain of protein kinase A.

    • Robert D. Malmstrom
    • , Alexandr P. Kornev
    •  & Rommie E. Amaro

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Insulin signaling governs many physiological processes but the molecular and neural mechanisms of its regulation are largely unknown. Here the authors describe a novel molecular pathway controlling sNPF regulation of insulin signalling in the fruit fly, which is mediated by the evolutionary conserved miR-9a.

    • Yoon Seok Suh
    • , Shreelatha Bhat
    •  & Kweon Yu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The proteasome is a highly regulated complex fundamental for cell homeostasis and a target for cancer therapy. Here the authors use cryo-EM and single-particle analysis to obtain a detailed map of the interactions between each active sites of the core 20S proteasome and the irreversible inhibitor AdaAhx3L3VS.

    • Paula C.A. da Fonseca
    •  & Edward P. Morris

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