Cytoskeleton articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    During Drosophilaoogenesis, migration of follicle cells causes the egg chamber to rotate, changing the shape of the egg chamber from spherical to oval. Here the authors show, using live imaging, that lamellopodia on the follicle cells are required for this rotation and alignment of contractile actin bundles.

    • Maureen Cetera
    • , Guillermina R. Ramirez-San Juan
    •  & Sally Horne-Badovinac

  • Article |

    Cilia are hair-like protuberances on the cellular surface that have been implicated in sensing and signal transduction. Here Gerdes et al. show cilia are involved in insulin signalling and secretion in pancreatic β-cells of rodents, and suggest that ciliary dysfunction could contribute to type 2 diabetes.

    • Jantje M. Gerdes
    • , Sonia Christou-Savina
    •  & Per-Olof Berggren

  • Article |

    Microtubules that nucleate from the surface of the Golgi network are important for polarized trafficking and cell migration. Sato et al.find that these microtubules are crosslinked and stabilized by the microtubule-binding protein MTCL1, and show that this activity is required for Golgi structure and function.

    • Yoshinori Sato
    • , Kenji Hayashi
    •  & Atsushi Suzuki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mitotic spindle assembly requires strict control of microtubule nucleation by γ-tubulin ring complexes. Olmsted et al. report that the kinesin-like proteins Pkl1 and Cut7 antagonistically regulate nucleation in fission yeast, and show that a Pkl1 peptide blocks spindle assembly in human cancer cells.

    • Zachary T. Olmsted
    • , Andrew G. Colliver
    •  & Janet L. Paluh

  • Article |

    Cargo is transported through the cell on microtubules, but the regulatory mechanism controlling release of dynactin-bound cargo from dynein is not known. Here, Jin et al.uncover roles for ADP-ribosylation factor-like 3 (Arl3) and dynein light chain LC8 in unloading cargo from microtubules.

    • Mingyue Jin
    • , Masami Yamada
    •  & Shinji Hirotsune

  • Article
    | Open Access

    chTOG, a microtubule polymerase, interacts with TACC3 during mitosis to regulate spindle formation. By studying their Xenopus homologues, Mortuza et al. discover that one TACC3 recruits two chTOG molecules to the spindle, increasing its local concentration and promoting microtubule elongation.

    • Gulnahar B. Mortuza
    • , Tommaso Cavazza
    •  & Guillermo Montoya

  • Article |

    The oligomeric Dam1 complex mediates microtubule attachment to kinetochores during mitosis; however, the significance of its oligomeric structure remains unclear. Umbreit et al. show that Dam1 oligomerization is required for microtubules to form attachments that are robust against tension.

    • Neil T. Umbreit
    • , Matthew P. Miller
    •  & Trisha N. Davis

  • Article |

    Coordinated beating of motile cilia is important to clear mucus from the airway. Here, Clare et al. show that galectin-3 at the base of motile cilia in the trachea is important for connecting cortical microtubules to the basal body, and subsequent organization and coordination of beating cilia.

    • Daniel K. Clare
    • , Jérémy Magescas
    •  & Delphine Delacour

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microtubule dynamics in neurons play critical roles in physiology, injury and disease. Here the authors develop a transgenic mouse line expressing a fluorescently tagged version of the microtubule binding protein EB3, and using a range of imaging techniques, study microtubule dynamics under normal and injury conditions in living mice.

    • Tatjana Kleele
    • , Petar Marinković
    •  & Thomas Misgeld

  • Article |

    The RhoGEF GEF-H1 is normally sequestered on microtubules via binding dynein light-chain Tctex-1, and is activated by microtubule depolymerization. Here, Meiri et al. describe a new model of GEF-H1 activation by GPCRs, whereby both the Gα and Gβγ subunits bind to GEF-H1 and Tctex-1, respectively, to displace GEF-H1 from intact microtubules.

    • David Meiri
    • , Christopher B. Marshall
    •  & Robert Rottapel

  • Article |

    It remains unclear how the dynactin complex activates cytoplasmic dynein motor proteins. Ayloo et al.use single molecule imaging to observe dynein–dynactin behaviour on microtubules, and show that dynactin recruits dynein to microtubules and acts as a brake to slow the motor.

    • Swathi Ayloo
    • , Jacob E. Lazarus
    •  & Erika L. F. Holzbaur

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The structural cross-talk between components of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton remains poorly understood. Here the authors engineer an actin-binding microtubule tip-tracking protein that guides microtubule growth along actin bundles, and allows microtubule growing ends to pull and bundle actin filaments.

    • Magdalena Preciado López
    • , Florian Huber
    •  & Marileen Dogterom

  • Article |

    Mutations in the deubiquitinase gene CYLD are associated with cylindromatosis, a disease characterized by the development of skin appendage tumours. Eguether et al.discover that CYLD localizes to centrosomes and is required for basal body migration and docking, providing insight into its tumour suppressor activity.

    • Thibaut Eguether
    • , Maria A. Ermolaeva
    •  & Anne-Marie Tassin

  • Article |

    Unlike most processive motor proteins, the stepping motion of cytoplasmic dynein’s two linked motor domains is not precisely coordinated. Cleary et al.show that the ATPase activity of just one head is required for processive movement, and that tension on the linker gates the release of the motor from microtubules.

    • Frank B. Cleary
    • , Mark A. Dewitt
    •  & Ahmet Yildiz

  • Article |

    Cell–cell adhesion molecules and the cytoskeleton determine endothelial cell shape during the formation of blood vessels. Here the authors show that the scaffold protein, amotL2, couples adherens junctions to contractile cytoskeletal proteins to coordinate cellular morphogenesis with aortic lumen expansion.

    • Sara Hultin
    • , Yujuan Zheng
    •  & Lars Holmgren

  • Article |

    Cells with multiple centrosomes, as are often observed in cancer, can still divide successfully because the centrosomes cluster to form a single spindle pole body. Drosopoulos et al.show that degradation of the kinesin Eg5 by APC/C-CDH1 is required for centrosome clustering.

    • Konstantinos Drosopoulos
    • , Chan Tang
    •  & Spiros Linardopoulos

  • Article |

    The non-processive motor protein myosin 1b is required for Golgi membrane tubulation. Using a minimal reconstituted system and theoretical analysis, Yamada et al.demonstrate that the mechanism of tubule extraction depends on the catch bond properties of myosin 1b.

    • Ayako Yamada
    • , Alexandre Mamane
    •  & Patricia Bassereau

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although factors regulating the assembly and disassembly of primary cilia have been identified, mechanisms controlling the steady-state length of the cilium remain poorly understood. Here, the authors show that Dido3 regulates cilium length by mediating the actin-dependent delivery of HDAC6 to the basal body.

    • Ainhoa Sánchez de Diego
    • , Astrid Alonso Guerrero
    •  & Karel H. M. van Wely

  • Article |

    α-tubulin acetylation is an evolutionarily conserved modification but despite its prevalence, the physiological function of this process remains poorly understood. Here, the authors show that α-tubulin acetylation regulates p38 kinase signalling and expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in macrophages.

    • Bin Wang
    • , Yan-Hua Rao
    •  & Tso-Pang Yao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Actin-dependent motility is driven by the rapid changes in the recruitment of many different structural and regulatory proteins at the cell’s cortex. Sobczyk et al. characterize these changes in the cytoskeletal proteome on a second to minute timescale during chemotactic response in Dictyosteliumusing SILAC-based proteomics.

    • Grzegorz J. Sobczyk
    • , Jun Wang
    •  & Cornelis J. Weijer

  • Article |

    Adipocyte differentiation is accompanied by large scale changes in the actin cytoskeleton. Here, Nobusue et al.show that binding to G-actin sequesters the transcriptional coactivator MKL1 in the cytoplasm, and triggers differentiation by inducing the expression of pro-adipogenic transcription factor PPARγ.

    • Hiroyuki Nobusue
    • , Nobuyuki Onishi
    •  & Koichiro Kano

  • Article |

    On mitotic exit, the nucleoporin MEL-28 binds to chromatin and seeds the formation of nuclear pore complexes. Here Yokoyama et al.show that upon mitotic entry, MEL-28 re-localizes to microtubules where it functions in assembling the mitotic spindle, revealing roles for MEL-28 throughout the cell cycle.

    • Hideki Yokoyama
    • , Birgit Koch
    •  & Oliver J. Gruss

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microtubules are tubes in which helical symmetry is broken at a single ‘A-lattice’ seam. Katsuki et al.show that microtubules containing additional A-lattice seams exhibit decreased stability, and propose that such seams may act as trigger points for microtubule catastrophe.

    • Miho Katsuki
    • , Douglas R. Drummond
    •  & Robert A. Cross

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Kinetochores must interact with both polymerizing (straight) and depolymerizing (curved) microtubules to ensure correct mitotic chromosome segregation. Abad et al. reveal how this flexibility is achieved through structural characterization of the interactions between microtubules and the kinetochore protein Ska1.

    • Maria Alba Abad
    • , Bethan Medina
    •  & A. Arockia Jeyaprakash

  • Article |

    Nck1/2 adaptor proteins control the assembly and activity of protein complexes that promote actin polymerization. Buvall et al.show that Nck1 abundance is regulated by the E3 ubiquitin ligase c-Cbl, which competes for Nck binding with the actin-binding protein synaptopodin in podocytes.

    • Lisa Buvall
    • , Priyanka Rashmi
    •  & Peter Mundel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Septins are a family of heteropolymerizing GTP/GDP-binding proteins and are implicated in neuritogenesis in nematodes. Ageta-Ishihara et al.show that septins also facilitate this process in the developing mouse brain as scaffolds that coordinate HDAC6-mediated deacetylation of microtubules.

    • Natsumi Ageta-Ishihara
    • , Takaki Miyata
    •  & Makoto Kinoshita

  • Article |

    Actin normally polymerizes into filaments in a cooperative manner, with nucleation and elongation phases. Skillman et al. show that actin from the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondiipolymerizes in an isodesmic manner, without any evidence of nucleation, resulting in filaments that are very short and unstable.

    • Kristen M. Skillman
    • , Christopher I. Ma
    •  & L. David Sibley

  • Article |

    While small molecules that destabilize actin filaments are readily available, artificially stimulating actin polymerization in cells typically involves genetic manipulation. Here, the authors design cell-permeable branched polyamines that promote lamellipodium formation by stimulating actin polymerization.

    • Iliana Nedeva
    • , Girish Koripelly
    •  & Daniel Riveline

  • Article
    | Open Access

    LIS1 has been shown to act as a protein ‘clutch’, which binds to dynein motor proteins and prevents microtubule detachment without affecting their ATPase activity; this causes dynein to stall. Here the authors show that the GTPase Rab6a releases LIS1 from dynein, thus reactivating the motor.

    • Masami Yamada
    • , Kanako Kumamoto
    •  & Shinji Hirotsune

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Plant cell division is driven by the expansion of the phragmoplast, a characteristic structure that forms in the middle of the plant cell during cytokinesis. Murata et al. use genetic and cell imaging approaches to clarify the microtubule behaviour that leads to phragmoplast expansion.

    • Takashi Murata
    • , Toshio Sano
    •  & Mitsuyasu Hasebe

  • Article |

    Acetylation of tubulin is proposed to be an important mechanism for the regulation of microtubule stability and diversity. Kalebic et al. generate mice lacking α-tubulin acetyltransferase activity, and reveal that an apparent absence of detectable tubulin acetylation is associated with impaired sperm motility.

    • Nereo Kalebic
    • , Simona Sorrentino
    •  & Paul A. Heppenstall

  • Article |

    Formins are a family of protein complexes that accelerate actin filament nucleation and elongation. Jegou et al.show that the formin mDia1 can generate mechanical tension in actin filaments, while conversely, pulling forces applied by viscous drag increase formin elongation activity.

    • Antoine Jégou
    • , Marie-France Carlier
    •  & Guillaume Romet-Lemonne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The division of a single eukaryotic cell into two requires actomyosin-dependent contraction. Here the authors show that lysine methylation of actin inhibits contractility during cytokinesis by blocking its association with myosin, and this modification is reversed at the contractile ring by the demethylase ALKBH4.

    • Ming-Ming Li
    • , Anja Nilsen
    •  & Yun-Gui Yang

  • Article |

    Centrosome duplication during cell division is controlled by the polo-like kinase PLK4. Nakamura et al. reveal how stress-activated protein kinase and the tumour suppressor p53 act together to regulate PLK4, and show that their combined loss in cancer cells leads to the appearance of supernumerary centrosomes.

    • Takanori Nakamura
    • , Haruo Saito
    •  & Mutsuhiro Takekawa

  • Article |

    The motor protein myosin II is implicated in three-dimensional organ development. In this study, the authors apply live imaging techniques to describe the dynamics of the developing Drosophilawing and the involvement of myosin II in this process.

    • Silvia Aldaz
    • , Luis M. Escudero
    •  & Matthew Freeman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    IP39 is an abundant protozoan protein known to form highly-ordered striations in Euglena gracilis’ plasma membrane. Here, Suzuki et al. determine its three-dimensional structure by electron crystallography revealing that IP39 polymerises to form trimeric longitudinal units arranged in a molecular strand of antiparallel double-rows.

    • Hiroshi Suzuki
    • , Yasuyuki Ito
    •  & Sachiko Tsukita

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The atypical RhoGTPase Rnd3 is implicated in the regulation of neuronal migration in the embryonic cerebral cortex. Using gene silencing techniques, Pacary and colleagues find that Rnd3 is also involved in earlier stages of neurogenesis, by modulating actin filament polymerization and cyclin D1 translation.

    • Emilie Pacary
    • , Roberta Azzarelli
    •  & François Guillemot

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