Cell biology articles within Nature Communications

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  • 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

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The first haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells arise from the hemogenic endothelium of arterial vascular beds. Here the authors describe the mechanism that regulates the endothelial-to-haematopoietic transition and show that Sox17 and Notch1, genes critical to arterial endothelium identity, are also crucial repressors of haematopoietic fate.

    • Carlos O. Lizama
    • , John S. Hawkins
    •  & Ann C. Zovein

  • 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

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