Extracellular signalling molecules articles from across Nature Portfolio

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) can elicit systemic host-responses. Here the authors report that, in a mouse model, unresolved UTI is associated with alterations of the mammary tissue, including collagen deposition and hyperplasia.

Various carriers are involved in extracellular Wnt transport. Here, the authors show that Wnt heterodimerization with its carrier protein, sFRP2, enhances Wnt accumulation on the cell surface, leading to exosome-mediated Wnt re-secretion.

Whether Kupffer cells play a role in regulating the pathogenesis of fatty liver disease remains to be completely explored. Here, the authors show GPR3 activation stimulates glycolysis in Kupffer cells through GPR3-β-arrestin2-GAPDHPKM2 pathway and inhibits high-fat diet induced obesity and liver pathogenesis.

In acute myocardial infarction treated with reperfusion, functional preservation of myocardium requires an angiogenic response. A new study shows that CRELD2, an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident protein induced in response to ER stress, acts as an angiocrine factor to limit cardiac dysfunction after ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice.

Mitochondria can shuttle between adjacent cells or travel to distant organs by breaking away from the parent cell and entering the circulation. Here, we briefly review the state of research into mitochondria transfer, and discuss a methodological framework for studying the process.

Antennapedia proteins were among the first proteins found to be exchanged intercellularly. This discovery by Alain Prochiantz and colleagues has inspired researchers of various backgrounds.