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Front Immunol 2021 22;12:653100. Epub 2021 Mar 22.

Inflammation Program of the University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States.

Neutrophils (also called polymorphonuclear leukocytes, PMNs) are heterogeneous and can exhibit considerable phenotypic and functional plasticity. In keeping with this, we discovered previously that infection induces N1-like subtype differentiation of human PMNs that is notable for profound nuclear hypersegmentation. Herein, we utilized biochemical approaches and confocal and super-resolution microscopy to gain insight into the underlying molecular mechanisms. Read More

Curr Biol 2021 Mar 24. Epub 2021 Mar 24.

Department of Biology, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, 94305, CA, USA. Electronic address:

During mitosis in animal cells, the centrosome acts as a microtubule organizing center (MTOC) to assemble the mitotic spindle. MTOC function at the centrosome is driven by proteins within the pericentriolar material (PCM), however the molecular complexity of the PCM makes it difficult to differentiate the proteins required for MTOC activity from other centrosomal functions. We used the natural spatial separation of PCM proteins during mitotic exit to identify a minimal module of proteins required for centrosomal MTOC function in C. Read More

J Cell Sci 2021 Mar 26;134(6). Epub 2021 Mar 26.

Department of Insect Biomedical Research, Centre for Advanced Insect Research Promotion, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan

After centrosome duplication, centrioles elongate before M phase. To identify genes required for this process and to understand the regulatory mechanism, we investigated the centrioles in premeiotic spermatocytes expressing fluorescently tagged centriolar proteins. We demonstrated that an essential microtubule polymerisation factor, Orbit (the CLASP orthologue, encoded by ), accumulated at the distal end of centrioles and was required for the elongation. Read More

Nat Commun 2021 03 1;12(1):1351. Epub 2021 Mar 1.

Institut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure (IBENS), Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, PSL Research University, Paris, France.

Exon junction complexes (EJCs) mark untranslated spliced mRNAs and are crucial for the mRNA lifecycle. An imbalance in EJC dosage alters mouse neural stem cell (mNSC) division and is linked to human neurodevelopmental disorders. In quiescent mNSC and immortalized human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE1) cells, centrioles form a basal body for ciliogenesis. Read More

Nat Commun 2021 02 22;12(1):1213. Epub 2021 Feb 22.

Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.

Chromosomal instability (CIN) is a hallmark of tumor cells caused by changes in the dynamics and control of microtubules that compromise the mitotic spindle. Thus, CIN cells may respond differently than diploid cells to treatments that target mitotic spindle regulation. Here, we test this idea by inhibiting a subset of kinesin motor proteins involved in mitotic spindle control. Read More