Cell biology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Some bacteria can form nanotubes to transfer proteins and plasmids between neighbouring cells. Here, the authors show that nanotubes can also mediate the exchange of cytoplasmic amino acids between cells of the same or different bacterial species.

    • Samay Pande
    • , Shraddha Shitut
    •  & Christian Kost

  • Article |

    Studies of cellular mechanotransduction commonly use elastic substrates, whereas biological substrates are viscoelastic, exhibiting stress relaxation. Here, the authors show through computational modelling and experiments that viscoelastic substrates can stimulate cell spreading to a greater extent than purely elastic substrates with the same initial stiffness.

    • Ovijit Chaudhuri
    • , Luo Gu
    •  & David J. Mooney

  • Article |

    Juxtaglomerular neurons (JGNs) of the mammalian olfactory bulb are generated throughout life, but when and how these adult-born cells acquire responsiveness to sensory stimuli remains unknown. Here, the authors use in vivotwo-photon imaging to monitor the migration and integration of adult-born JGNs and their sensory response properties.

    • Yury Kovalchuk
    • , Ryota Homma
    •  & Olga Garaschuk

  • Article |

    The ciliary margin of the eye functions as a source of multipotent progenitor cells in certain organisms but whether it plays this role in humans has not been easy to study. Here the authors culture human embryonic stem cells that self-organize into retinal tissue, and show that ciliary margin-like growth zones emerge from the developing human retinal tissue and contain stem cell niches.

    • Atsushi Kuwahara
    • , Chikafumi Ozone
    •  & Yoshiki Sasai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A relationship between membrane tension and clathrin polymerization during endocytosis has not been experimentally established. Here, the authors show using an in vitroreconstituted system and theoretical modelling that membrane tension regulates clathrin polymerization into spherical cages by varying the membrane budding energy.

    • Mohammed Saleem
    • , Sandrine Morlot
    •  & Aurélien Roux

  • Article
    | Open Access

    RIPK3 can cause necroptotic cell death via MLKL phosphorylation, and activate NLRP3 inflammasome. Here the authors show that MLKL is dispensable for NLRP3 activation by RIPK3, and highlight how different IAP proteins limit RIPK3 induced apoptosis, necroptosis and IL-1 secretion.

    • Kate E. Lawlor
    • , Nufail Khan
    •  & James E. Vince

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neurons have complex dendritic trees but the rules governing the propagation of signals from dendrites to nuclei remain unclear. Here the authors combine diffusion-reaction modelling and live imaging to investigate the mechanisms regulating cAMP signalling in neurons and find that dendritic tree geometry shapes synapse-to-nucleus signalling.

    • Lu Li
    • , Nicolas Gervasi
    •  & Jean-Antoine Girault

  • Article |

    The Hippo pathway plays a role in regulating organ size and stem cell renewal but the regulatory mechanisms that fine-tune this pathway are not well understood. Here the authors report on the role of NEDD4 as a negative regulator of the Hippo signalling components, WW45 and LATS kinase, and in controlling cell proliferation and intestinal stem cell homeostasis.

    • Sung Jun Bae
    • , Myungjin Kim
    •  & Jae Hong Seol

  • Article |

    Mice can be generated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) but the impact of accumulated mutations on the developmental potential of the cells remains to be determined. Here the authors show that mice generated from iPSCs tolerate the accumulation of somatic mutations for up to six generations, but their viability decreased with increasing generations.

    • Shuai Gao
    • , Caihong Zheng
    •  & Shaorong Gao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mammalian mitochondria are capable of inter-organelle communication, but connections between mitochondria have not been defined. Here, Picard et al. report the presence of inter-mitochondrial junctions, electron-dense regions with coordinated inner membrane cristae that do not depend on mitofusins for their formation.

    • Martin Picard
    • , Meagan J. McManus
    •  & Douglas C. Wallace

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Protein phosphorylation is known to play an important role in cell adhesion signalling. Robertson et al. present a proteomic resource mapping the phosphorylation states of proteins isolated from adhesion complexes and, taking advantage of this data set, show that the cell cycle kinase CDK1 may influence cell adhesion.

    • Joseph Robertson
    • , Guillaume Jacquemet
    •  & Martin J. Humphries

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cytoplasmic dynein from the yeast S. cerevisiae behaves distinctly from mammalian dyneins, despite structural conservation. Here, Nicholas et al. identify a C-terminal domain in mammalian dynein that restricts force generation and travel distance, which, when removed, allows mammalian dynein to behave like its yeast counterpart.

    • Matthew P. Nicholas
    • , Peter Höök
    •  & Arne Gennerich

  • Article |

    Imaging live cells at nanometre resolution is challenging because radiation damage kills the cells during exposure. Here, the authors overcome this difficulty in a ‘diffraction before destruction’ experiment using an X-ray laser and record signal to 4 nm resolution on a free-flying cell.

    • Gijs van der Schot
    • , Martin Svenda
    •  & Tomas Ekeberg

  • Article |

    Cells rewire their gene networks to adapt to the environment, yet little is known about the mechanisms underlying gene network evolution. Here, the authors show that changing promoters in the galactose network between two species of yeast changes network inducibility levels and affects fitness.

    • Weilin Peng
    • , Ping Liu
    •  & Murat Acar

  • Article |

    Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common and aggressive form of primary brain tumour, and in 50% of cases EFGR is mutated, amplified or upregulated. Here the authors show that NHE9 controls the amount of EGFR at the membrane surface of brain tumour-initiating stem cells by affecting the luminal pH of sorting endosomes.

    • Kalyan C. Kondapalli
    • , Jose P. Llongueras
    •  & Rajini Rao

  • Article |

    Activation of the liver receptor CAR and β-catenin are both involved in hepatocellular carcinoma. Here, the authors show that combined activation of both CAR and β-catenin in mice can drive uncontrolled liver growth and is sufficient for hepatocarcinogenesis.

    • Bingning Dong
    • , Ju-Seog Lee
    •  & David D. Moore

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antigenic peptides are loaded into major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) molecules after entering the ER via the TAP transporter. Here, Fischbach et al. develop a flow cytometry assay to monitor TAP-dependent peptide translocation that is sensitive enough to use on scarce primary cell subsets.

    • Hanna Fischbach
    • , Marius Döring
    •  & Robert Tampé

  • Article |

    T regulatory cells (Tregs) prevent immunopathology by inhibiting excessive T-cell activation. Here the authors show interactions between dendritic cells, Tregs and antigen-specific T cells in the lymph node during initiation of the immune response in real time by two-photon microscopy.

    • Melanie P. Matheu
    • , Shivashankar Othy
    •  & Michael D. Cahalan

  • Article |

    Cell-type diversity results from a series of binary cell fate decisions. Here, Matsuda et al.find that cells engineered with a Notch/Delta lateral inhibition circuit spontaneously bifurcate into Notch-active and Delta-positive subpopulations that are robust at the individual and population levels.

    • Mitsuhiro Matsuda
    • , Makito Koga
    •  & Miki Ebisuya

  • Article |

    Airway epithelia from cystic fibrosis patients show an exaggerated inflammatory response to P. aeruginosa. Here, Rimessi et al. show that P. aeruginosa exposure causes augmented Ca2+signalling in the absence of functional CFTR, leading to mitochondrial damage and activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome.

    • Alessandro Rimessi
    • , Valentino Bezzerri
    •  & Paolo Pinton

  • Article |

    Phagocytic activity of macrophages is reduced in HIV-1-infected patients, but the reason for this is unknown. Here, the authors report that secreted Tat protein inhibits phagocytosis by binding to the phospholipid PI(4,5)P2and impairing the recruitment of small GTPase Cdc42 to the phagocytic cup.

    • Solène Debaisieux
    • , Simon Lachambre
    •  & Bruno Beaumelle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Improving the efficiency of reprogramming of somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells is of major interest. Here, the authors combine ascorbic acid and 2i (MAP kinase and GSK inhibitors) conditions and show increased efficiency and synchronicity in the reprogramming of fibroblasts and partially reprogrammed cells, and study epigenetic effectors and signalling pathways responsible for this effect.

    • Khoa A. Tran
    • , Steven A. Jackson
    •  & Rupa Sridharan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microbial pathogens can activate both innate and adaptive receptors, and integration of these signals may enhance the sensitivity of the immune response. Freeman et al. show that innate microbial cues sensitize B cells to antigen by increasing actin dynamics and reducing the actin-dependent confinement of the B-cell receptor.

    • Spencer A. Freeman
    • , Valentin Jaumouillé
    •  & Michael R. Gold

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Augmented AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity inhibits cell migration through an unknown mechanism. Here, Yan et al.show that AMPK phosphorylates the novel substrate PDZ and LIM domain 5 (Pdlim5), and that phosphomimetic Pdlim5 impairs cell migration by disrupting the Rac1-Arp2/3 signalling pathway.

    • Yi Yan
    • , Osamu Tsukamoto
    •  & Seiji Takashima

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Angiopoietin-1 (Ang1) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang2) have opposing effects on vascular stability through their receptor Tie2, but there is evidence for Tie2-independent functions of Ang2. Here, Hakanpaa et al.show that Ang2 directly activates β1-integrin, leading to rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton and decreased VE-cadherin in cell–cell junctions.

    • Laura Hakanpaa
    • , Tuomas Sipila
    •  & Pipsa Saharinen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Clustering of proteins in the plasma membrane plays an important role in the regulation of both cellular signalling and membrane remodelling. Milovanovic et al.demonstrate that mismatch between transmembrane domain length and the lipid bilayer thickness is sufficient to drive clustering of SNARE proteins.

    • Dragomir Milovanovic
    • , Alf Honigmann
    •  & Reinhard Jahn

  • Article |

    TAR DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43) and its C-terminal fragment of 25 kDa (CTF25) play critical roles in several neurodegenerative diseases but the cleavage site that generates CTF25 remains undetermined. Here the authors show that caspase-4 cleaves TDP-43 after Aps174 generating CTF25, and this leads to TDP-43 clearance and increased cell viability.

    • Quan Li
    • , Moe Yokoshi
    •  & Yukio Kawahara

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The proteoglycan Agrin is known to be expressed in neurons and muscle and to bind ECM protein laminin. Here the authors report that Agrin promotes hepatocellular carcinoma by stimulating proliferation, decreasing focal adhesion, increasing invasiveness and promoting an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

    • Sayan Chakraborty
    • , Manikandan Lakshmanan
    •  & Wanjin Hong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Meiotic maturation of oocytes and early development of mammalian embryos is largely dependent on the translation of mRNAs stored in the oocyte. Here the authors uncover a population of mRNA retained in the oocyte nucleus whose translation is spatially and temporally regulated by the mTOR–eIF4F pathway during meiosis.

    • Andrej Susor
    • , Denisa Jansova
    •  & Michal Kubelka

  • Article |

    Expression of ADAM8, a metalloprotease disintegrin, correlates with worse prognosis in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Here Schlomann et al. show that ADAM8 promotes PDAC invasiveness, and develop a peptide inhibitor that blocks ADAM8 function and impedes PDAC progression in mouse models.

    • Uwe Schlomann
    • , Garrit Koller
    •  & Jörg W. Bartsch

  • Article |

    Mast cells are tissue-resident immune cells important for clearance of parasitic worms but also mediating allergic reactions. Here Joulia et al. show that human mast cells form degranulatory synapses with antibody-targeted cells and pathogens to increase efficiency and minimize off-target effects.

    • Régis Joulia
    • , Nicolas Gaudenzio
    •  & Eric Espinosa

  • Article |

    Dominant mutations in the RNA-binding protein FUS/TLS cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an adult-onset motor neuron degenerative disease. Here, the authors show that ALS-causative FUS/TLS mutations directly bind the SMN and U1-snRNP complexes, producing both loss and gain of function effects on RNA processing.

    • Shuying Sun
    • , Shuo-Chien Ling
    •  & Don W. Cleveland

  • Article |

    Herpes simplex viruses cause a variety of diseases, from cold sores to encephalitis. Here, Martinez-Martin et al. show that the viral protein gG binds to cell surface glycosaminoglycans and induces chemokine receptor clustering, enhancing chemokine function and thus modulating the immune response.

    • Nadia Martinez-Martin
    • , Abel Viejo-Borbolla
    •  & Antonio Alcamí

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fumarate hydratase (FH) mutations are associated with renal cancer. Here, Zheng et al. use metabolomic and analytical chemistry approaches to reveal that fumarate accumulated due to FH loss covalently modifies intracellular glutathione, leading to oxidative stress and senescence.

    • Liang Zheng
    • , Simone Cardaci
    •  & Eyal Gottlieb

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A metallofullerenol nanomaterial, Gd@C82(OH)22, was shown to inhibit growth of several solid cancers in preclinical models and yet exhibit low toxicity. Herein the authors show that Gd@C82(OH)22functions as an inhibitor of breast cancer stem cell function via blocking TGF-β and HIF-1α signalling, while sparing normal tissue.

    • Ying Liu
    • , Chunying Chen
    •  & Yuliang Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reprogramming of mouse somatic cells into iPSCs often generates pre-iPSCs, low-grade iPSCs that show abnormal Dlk1-Dio3 imprinting, and fully reprogrammed, high-grade iPSCs. Here, the authors show that germ-cell marker Dppa3 enhances reprogramming kinetics, critical for the maintenance of Dlk1-Dio3 imprinting and generation of fully reprogrammed iPSCs.

    • Xingbo Xu
    • , Lukasz Smorag
    •  & D. V. Krishna Pantakani

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