Cell growth articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bacteria can form wall-deficient variants, or L-forms, that divide by a simple mechanism that does not require the FtsZ-based cell division machinery. Here, Wu et al. study L-forms in microfluidic systems to show the importance of geometric effects for cell growth, chromosome segregation and cell division.

    • Ling Juan Wu
    • , Seoungjun Lee
    •  & Jeff Errington

  • Article
    | Open Access

    3D liver organoids hold great promise for regenerative medicine but the use of ill-defined matrices limits their potential. Here, the authors generate human and mouse liver organoids using a chemically defined matrix, and reveal a link between matrix stiffness and organoid growth that does not require acto-myosin contraction.

    • Giovanni Sorrentino
    • , Saba Rezakhani
    •  & Kristina Schoonjans

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Budding yeast cell polarization is known to self-assemble, but it is still not clear what controls the size of the resulting septin ring. Here the authors show that the septin ring diameter is set by cell volume, ensuring that larger cells have larger rings.

    • I. V. Kukhtevich
    • , N. Lohrberg
    •  & K. M. Schmoller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hippo TEAD-transcriptional regulators YAP1 and TAZ modulate cell growth, but the downstream networks are unclear. Here, the authors use a genetically-encoded inhibitor of YAP1/TAZ interaction with TEAD (TEADi) to disrupt transcriptional networks for cell cycle and terminal differentiation in human keratinocytes and mouse skin.

    • Yao Yuan
    • , Jeannie Park
    •  & Ramiro Iglesias-Bartolome

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mycobacteria grow by inserting new cell wall material at the cell poles. Here, Hannebelle et al. combine time-lapse optical and atomic force microscopy to show that single-cell growth is biphasic due to a lag phase of variable duration before the new pole transitions from slow to fast growth.

    • Mélanie T. M. Hannebelle
    • , Joëlle X. Y. Ven
    •  & Georg E. Fantner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Macropinocytosis has been implicated in the expansion of transformed cells when nutrient-depleted. Here the authors show that macropinocytosis also contributes to the expansion of primary T cells even under nutrient-replete conditions, potentially by providing access of extracellular amino acids to an endolysosomal compartment to sustain mTORC1 activation.

    • John C. Charpentier
    • , Di Chen
    •  & Philip D. King

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Natural killer/T cell lymphoma (NKTCL) is a rare and aggressive disease. Here, the authors identify recurrent somatic mutations of GNAQ in NKTCL, and model how this mutation contributes to NKTCL pathogenesis.

    • Zhaoming Li
    • , Xudong Zhang
    •  & Mingzhi Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Oncogene induced senescence protects cells from unrestricted growth and cancer. Here, the authors show that PAK4 overrides this senescence in breast cancer cells through phosphorylation of RELB, thereby inhibiting transcription of the senescence regulator C/EBPβ.

    • Tânia D. F. Costa
    • , Ting Zhuang
    •  & Staffan Strömblad

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is unclear how circuit specificity and function are maintained during organismal growth. In this study, authors show that connectivity between primary nociceptors and their downstream neurons scales with animal size and that Ste20-like kinase Tao acts as a negative regulator of synaptic growth required for maintenance of circuit specificity and connectivity.

    • Federico Marcello Tenedini
    • , Maria Sáez González
    •  & Peter Soba

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Animals can adapt their body size to changing environments (e.g., temperature) but the underlying molecular mechanisms are unknown. Here, the authors show that temperature and the genetic factors insulin-like peptide receptor and FoxO determine size in Hydra via the conserved pathways (Wnt/TGF-β).

    • Benedikt M. Mortzfeld
    • , Jan Taubenheim
    •  & Thomas C. G. Bosch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The hypoxia response pathway couples oxygen availability to physiological adaptations. Using the model system Drosophila melanogaster, here the authors show that hypoxia inhibits TORC1 signalling and increases lipid levels in the larval fat body and that these effects are required for development to adulthood.

    • Byoungchun Lee
    • , Elizabeth C. Barretto
    •  & Savraj S. Grewal

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Insulin signaling represses Forkhead transcription factor FoxO activity, which contributes to organismal metabolism. Here, the authors use proteomics to identify positively regulated insulin signaling targets FoxK1/K2 and demonstrate their role in lipid metabolism and mitochondrial regulation.

    • Masaji Sakaguchi
    • , Weikang Cai
    •  & C. Ronald Kahn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hippo pathway inactivation plays a role in many cancers, although how tumor cells depress signaling is unclear. Here, Lim et al. identify STK25, which activates LATS in a manner distinct from other upstream kinases and is focally deleted from a range of human cancers.

    • Sanghee Lim
    • , Nicole Hermance
    •  & Neil J. Ganem

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The phosphatase Shp-2 was implicated in NK cell education due to its reported association with inhibitory receptors, but its function in this context is unclear. Here the authors show that Shp-2 is not required for NK cell function, but is necessary for IL-15-induced metabolic burst and expansion.

    • Charlène Niogret
    • , S. M. Shahjahan Miah
    •  & Greta Guarda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is unclear whether a constrictive force is exerted on the membrane from inside during bacterial cell division, or cell wall remodeling alone drives membrane constriction from outside. Here, the authors use simulations to explore different mechanisms for cell wall division, supporting that a constrictive force is required.

    • Lam T. Nguyen
    • , Catherine M. Oikonomou
    •  & Grant J. Jensen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hippo signaling leads to the phosphorylation of the key transcriptional effector, Yap/Yki, although how Yap/Yki stability is regulated has remained unclear. Here, Sun et al. identify HAUSP/Usp7 as a conserved and clinically relevant regulator of the Hippo pathway that increases Yap/Yki stability.

    • Xiaohan Sun
    • , Yan Ding
    •  & Zizhang Zhou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cortical microtubules of Toxoplasma gondii are exceptionally stable, but it isn’t known how they are anchored along membranes. Here, Harding et al. show that GAPM proteins localize to the inner membrane complex and are essential for maintaining the structural stability of parasites.

    • Clare R. Harding
    • , Matthew Gow
    •  & Sebastian Lourido

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most tumours are characterized by increased aerobic glycolytic activity. Here the authors show that elevated  aerobic glycolysis is not essential for cancer initiation by testing the effect of lactate dehydrogenase depletion on the ability of hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) to form squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in mouse genetic models.

    • A. Flores
    • , S. Sandoval-Gonzalez
    •  & W. E. Lowry

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway has been previously implicated in fibrosis and a pan-PI3K/mTOR inhibitor is currently under clinical evaluation for the treatment of IPF. Here the authors show that the mTORC1/4E-BP1 axis is critical for TGF-β1-induced fibrogenesis in in vitro and ex vivo models and that canonical PI3K/Akt signalling is dispensable.

    • Hannah V. Woodcock
    • , Jessica D. Eley
    •  & Rachel C. Chambers

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Increased levels of the Yap oncoprotein stimulate liver growth and promote hepatocarcinogenesis. Here the authors show that hepatocyte-specific loss of Atg7 in mice leads to decreased autophagic degradation of Yap and liver overgrowth, and further establish this association in human liver cancer tissues.

    • Youngmin A. Lee
    • , Luke A. Noon
    •  & Scott L. Friedman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The transcriptional co-factors Yap and TAZ are regulated by Hippo signalling and mechanical forces via their nucleocytoplasmic shuttling. Here the authors identify a RhoA-regulated C-terminal nuclear localization signal and a TEAD-regulated N-terminal nuclear export signal of TAZ in an epithelial cell line.

    • Michael Kofler
    • , Pam Speight
    •  & András Kapus

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hippo-YAP pathway plays an important role in cancers; however the in vivo relevance of YAP/TAZ target genes is unclear. Here, the authors show that NUAK2 is a target of YAP and participates in a feedback loop to maximize YAP activity. Inhibition of NUAK2 suppresses YAP-driven hepatomegaly and liver cancer growth, offering a new target for cancer therapy.

    • Wei-Chien Yuan
    • , Brian Pepe-Mooney
    •  & Fernando D. Camargo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The drivers of growth rate variability in bacteria are yet unknown. Here, the authors present a theory to predict the growth dynamics of individual cells and use a stochastic cell model integrating metabolism, gene expression and replication to identify the processes that underlie growth variation.

    • Philipp Thomas
    • , Guillaume Terradot
    •  & Andrea Y. Weiße

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During mammary gland involution, the organ undergoes extensive remodeling. Here, the authors explore the role of mammary gland adipose tissue (mgWAT) in this process and demonstrate that adipocyte hypertrophy and lipid trafficking underlie mgWAT expansion and epithelial regression.

    • Rachel K. Zwick
    • , Michael C. Rudolph
    •  & Valerie Horsley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The size of cells fluctuates but there are limited experimental methods to measure live mammalian cell sizes. Here, the authors track single cell volume (FXm) over the cell cycle and generate a mathematical framework to compare size homeostasis in datasets ranging from bacteria to mammalian cells.

    • Clotilde Cadart
    • , Sylvain Monnier
    •  & Matthieu Piel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hypertrophic cardiomyocytes switch their metabolism from fatty acid oxidation to glucose use, but the functional role of this change is unclear. Here the authors show that high intracellular glucose inhibits the degradation of branched-chain amino acids, which is required for the activation of pro-growth mTOR signaling.

    • Dan Shao
    • , Outi Villet
    •  & Rong Tian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The actin-like protein MreB coordinates the synthesis of the cell wall, which determines cell shape in bacteria. Here, Bratton et al. show that the transmembrane protein RodZ modulates MreB polymer number and curvature preference, contributing to the cylindrical uniform shape of E. coli cells.

    • Benjamin P. Bratton
    • , Joshua W. Shaevitz
    •  & Randy M. Morgenstein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    MicroRNAs play important roles in endothelial cells injury, proliferation and maladaptation by negatively regulating posttranscriptional gene expression. Here the authors uncover the role of the long non coding RNA lncWDR59, target of miR-103, in endothelial maladaptation.

    • Lucia Natarelli
    • , Claudia Geißler
    •  & Andreas Schober

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single CD34 negative haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) can fully reconstitute lympho-myeloid hematopoiesis in mice. Here, using single cell transplantation and gene expression analyses, the authors show that CD34 negative HSCs lie at the apex of haematopoiesis in human cord blood and that they can give rise to erythroid megakaryocytic progenitors.

    • Keisuke Sumide
    • , Yoshikazu Matsuoka
    •  & Yoshiaki Sonoda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Hippo pathway is a major orchestrator of organ development and homeostasis. Here Azad and colleagues develop a biosensor to monitor the activity of the Hippo pathway component LATS and identify VEGF signalling as an upstream regulator of LATS, supporting a role for Hippo signalling during angiogenesis.

    • T. Azad
    • , H. J. Janse van Rensburg
    •  & X. Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathways are essential for cancer cell survival. Here, the authors describes a molecule a131 with dual-inhibitory properties, which targets PI5P4K and mitosis, and it is involved in Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK and PI3K/Akt/mTOR crosstalk, thereby causing reversible growth arrest in normal cells and cell death of tumor cells.

    • Mayumi Kitagawa
    • , Pei-Ju Liao
    •  & Sang Hyun Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase operates within two distinct multiprotein complexes named TORC1 and TORC2. Here the authors report a cryo-EM structure of TORC2, establish its subunit organization, providing a rationale for TORC2’s rapamycin insensitivity and the mutually exclusive inclusion of Avo3/Rictor or Raptor within their respective TOR complex.

    • Manikandan Karuppasamy
    • , Beata Kusmider
    •  & Christiane Schaffitzel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tip-growing cells can find their growing path toward the source of attractive signals. Here, using experimental data and mathematical modeling, Luo et al. demonstrate that tip-localized exocytosis can integrate guidance cues with Rho GTPase signaling to control cell wall mechanics and direct tip growth in Arabidopsis pollen tubes.

    • Nan Luo
    • , An Yan
    •  & Zhenbiao Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is a key regulator of mitosis. Here, the authors show that Plk1 activates the pentose phosphate pathway in cancer cells by directly phosphorylating glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and that such activation is critical for cell cycle progression and cancer cell growth.

    • Xiaoyu Ma
    • , Lin Wang
    •  & Huafeng Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plants lack the amino acid sensors that regulate TOR in metazoans. Here Dong et al. show that Arabidopsis GCN2 senses carbon and nitrogen availability for cysteine synthesis while sulfur limitation activates TOR via glucose metabolism, providing a mechanism whereby plants control growth according to nutrient availability.

    • Yihan Dong
    • , Marleen Silbermann
    •  & Markus Wirtz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The quiescence-exit process is noisy even in genetically identical cells under the same environmental conditions. Here the authors show that the heterogeneity of quiescence exit reflects a memory of preceding cell growth at quiescence induction and immediate division history prior to quiescence entry.

    • Xia Wang
    • , Kotaro Fujimaki
    •  & Guang Yao

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