Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Nowell et al. report that chronic inflammation of the corneal epithelium activates β-catenin signalling through YAP/TAZ-dependent mechanotransduction, leading to epidermal differentiation on the ocular surface and corneal squamous cell metaplasia.
Meyer and colleagues use fluorescent biosensors to demonstrate that chemotactic steering and cell polarization are controlled by locally excitable Cdc42 signalling.
Théry and colleagues find that the centrosome can participate in actin-filament assembly in a manner that is mediated by WASH and Arp2/3 and requires the presence of pericentriolar material.
Dixon and colleagues and Guo and colleagues find that phosphorylation of the 19S proteasome subunit Rpt3 by DYRK2 increases proteasome activity and promotes cell proliferation, whereas loss of Rpt3 phosphorylation inhibits tumour formation in mice.
Way and colleagues use in vitro assays and the vaccinia virus actin-based motility system to demonstrate that the subunit composition of the Arp2/3 complex defines distinct properties in actin filament assembly.
Rousso et al. describe the dynamics of exocytosis in the Drosophila salivary gland. They show that Dia and Rok regulate the formation of an actomyosin coat around the vesicle, with a contractile myosin II case-like structure driving content release.
Johannes and colleagues report that retrograde trafficking of non-liganded β1 integrin from the plasma membrane to the trans-Golgi network to then be secreted in a polarized manner is needed for cell adhesion and persistent migration.
De la Pompa and colleagues show that Dll4-mediated Notch signalling regulates trabeculation in the developing mouse endocardium, whereas Jag1/2-mediated Notch signalling in the myocardium drives compaction and ventricular maturation.
By tracking the division outcomes of thousands of single cells, Jones and colleagues show that primary human keratinocyte proliferation in culture is either expanding, producing proliferating progeny, or balanced, thereby producing proliferating and differentiating progeny.
Vargas et al. report that innate immune signalling activation controls dendritic cell migration mode and function by regulating distinct F-actin networks at the cell front and rear.
Fuchs and colleagues conducted an in vivo screen of cancer-associated microRNAs and identified a tumour-promoting role for miR-21∗ in squamous cell carcinoma.
Sheetz and colleagues use micropillar arrays to report that the regulation of rigidity sensing involves the tropomyosin-dependent control of the stepwise contractions needed to reach a force level sufficient for integrin adhesion reinforcement.
Lacaud and colleagues show that the GFI1 transcriptional repressors are required for endothelial-to-haematopoietic transition in the aorta–gonad–mesonephros region of the mouse embryo by inhibiting the endothelial gene expression program via LSD1.
The ciliary transition zone (TZ) at the base of cilia is thought to gate entry of proteins into the cilium. The authors characterize a role for TMEM107, a protein mutated in the ciliopathy Joubert syndrome, in organizing a submodule of the TZ.
The role of centrosome amplification in tumorigenesis has remained unclear. Using mice, Blanpain and colleagues find that overexpression of Plk4, which leads to centrosome amplification, can cause aneuploidy and tumour initiation in p53-deficient skin.
Gottlieb and colleagues demonstrate that glioblastoma cell proliferation under glutamine starvation conditions depends on the glutamine-synthetase-dependent conversion of glutamate to glutamine to fuel purine biosynthesis and cell growth.
Centriole duplication requires the loading of centriolar proteins to the daughter centriole during mitosis. Fu and colleagues analyse by 3D-structural illumination microscopy the sequential recruitment of centriolar proteins Cep135, Cep295 and Cep152.
Baskin et al. report that FAM126A, which is mutated in hypomyelination and congenital cataract, regulates PI4KIII, the kinase generating PtdIns(4)P. Loss of FAM126A in patients affects PI4KIIIα complex assembly and PtdIns(4)P synthesis at the plasma membrane.
By comparing the metabolomes, transcriptomes and epigenomes of human pluripotent stem cell lines, Sperber et al. show that interplay between the metabolome and histone modifications drives the metabolic switch from naive to primed pluripotency.
Samakovlis and colleagues perform a genome-wide, tissue-specific RNAi screen in the Drosophila larval and adult airway systems and find that an initial transient anisotropic distribution of aPKC drives fibre orientation during tube formation.