Cell division articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single-cell RNA-sequencing technology gives access to cell cycle dynamics without externally perturbing the cell. Here the authors present DeepCycle,a robust deep learning method to infer the cell cycle state in single cells from scRNA-seq data.

    • Andrea Riba
    • , Attila Oravecz
    •  & Nacho Molina

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Frizzled/Dishevelled planar cell polarity pathway is involved in mitotic spindle orientation, but how this is coordinated with the cell cycle is unclear. Here, the authors show with Drosophila sensory organ precursor cells that Cyclin A is recruited in prophase by Frizzled/Dishevelled, regulating division orientation.

    • Pénélope Darnat
    • , Angélique Burg
    •  & Agnès Audibert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role of genome folding in the heritability and evolvability of structural variations is not well understood. Here the authors investigate the impact of the three-dimensional genome topology of germ cells in the formation and transmission of gross structural genomic changes detected from comparing whole-genome sequences of 14 rodent species.

    • Lucía Álvarez-González
    • , Frances Burden
    •  & Aurora Ruiz-Herrera

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How nucleosome assembly of parental histones is regulated following DNA replication is still an open question. Here the authors show that unlike deposition of new histones H3.1 and H3.3 that utilizes different histone chaperones, parental H3.1 and H3.3 are both stably inherited during mitotic cell division in mouse embryonic stem cells, and this involves histone chaperones Mcm2, Pole3 and Pole4.

    • Xiaowei Xu
    • , Shoufu Duan
    •  & Zhiguo Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Female carriers of BRCA1 mutations possess high breast cancer risk, which may reflect deficient growth control of mammary progenitor cells. Here, the authors study progenitor-enriched fractions from these carriers and describe a loss of PLK1-mediated mitotic spindle positioning and an inability of the progeny to acquire features of mature luminal cells.

    • Zhengcheng He
    • , Ryan Ghorayeb
    •  & Christopher A. Maxwell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tension stabilizes properly attached microtubules to kinetochores during chromosome segregation, and lack of tension leads to release. Here the authors show that tension directly suppresses Aurora B kinase mediated destabilization of reconstituted kinetochore-microtubule attachments, likely ensuring accurate chromosome segregation.

    • Anna K. de Regt
    • , Cordell J. Clark
    •  & Sue Biggins

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rapid turnover and regeneration of intestinal epithelium requires distinct intestinal stem cell (ISC) populations. Here the authors show p57 marks quiescent ISCs, and that differentiated cells revert to stem cell state after injury, through dynamic reprogramming characterized by fetal- and metaplastic-like changes.

    • Tsunaki Higa
    • , Yasutaka Okita
    •  & Keiichi I. Nakayama

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The cell cycle regulates translation during mitosis by controlling DENR stability. Here, the authors show the non-canonical translation initiation complex DENR·MCTS1 is phosphorylated during mitosis by CDK1 and 2, enabling the translation of genes needed for proper mitotic progression.

    • Katharina Clemm von Hohenberg
    • , Sandra Müller
    •  & Aurelio A. Teleman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The MuvB protein complex regulates genes that are differentially expressed through the cell cycle, yet its precise molecular function has remained unclear. Here the authors reveal MuvB associates with the nucleosome adjacent to the transcription start site of cell-cycle genes and that the tight positioning of this nucleosome correlates with MuvB-dependent gene repression.

    • Anushweta Asthana
    • , Parameshwaran Ramanan
    •  & Seth M. Rubin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nitrogen deficiency can cause floral abortion during reproductive development of rice. Here the authors show that when nitrogen is limited, rice plants require the ETFβ protein, which is involved in branched chain amino acid catabolism, to promote nitrogen reutilization and support the initiation of meiosis.

    • Han Yang
    • , Yafei Li
    •  & Zhukuan Cheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Streptomyces bacteria undergo two modes of cell division: formation of cross-walls in hyphae, leading to multicellular compartments, and septation for release of unicellular spores. Here, Bush et al. identify a protein that is important for both cell division modes in Streptomyces, likely by contributing to stabilization of the divisome.

    • Matthew J. Bush
    • , Kelley A. Gallagher
    •  & Susan Schlimpert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Maturing erythroblasts become smaller with every cell division. Here, the authors show that Epo stimulation promotes cell division and also generates larger red cells, and that this occurs in mouse and human cells, suggesting that red cell size could be a diagnostic marker for hypoxic stress.

    • Daniel Hidalgo
    • , Jacob Bejder
    •  & Merav Socolovsky

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mitotic spindle assembly is required for proper cell division, but many underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, the authors show that NuMa undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation, condensing on spindle poles during mitotic entry and enriching critical components to promote spindle assembly.

    • Mengjie Sun
    • , Mingkang Jia
    •  & Chuanmao Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Entry into S phase of the cell cycle is regulated positively by mitogens and negatively by DNA damage; however, how balance of these signals is achieved is not well known. Here the authors show that the NUCKS1-SKP2- p21/p27 axis integrates this information, where the NUCKS1 transcription factor affects levels of p21/p27 to readout the mitogen:DNA damage balance and regulate S phase entry decision.

    • Samuel Hume
    • , Claudia P. Grou
    •  & Grigory L. Dianov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    PKCε is known to exert a role in genome protection by directly phosphorylating and switching the specificity of Aurora B. Here the authors identify SERBP1 as a parallel mitotic PKCε substrate controlling translation and ensuring the integrity of chromosome segregation and successful cell division.

    • Silvia Martini
    • , Khalil Davis
    •  & Peter J. Parker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mammalian SWI/SNF nucleosome remodeler is required for spermatogenesis. Here, the authors show that PBAF is essential for meiotic cell division in males and required to activate the expression of critical genes involved in spindle assembly and nuclear division in spermatocytes.

    • Debashish U. Menon
    • , Oleksandr Kirsanov
    •  & Terry Magnuson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chromosome segregation is essential to avoid aneuploidy, yet in mammalian oocytes it progressively fails in an age-dependent manner. Here the authors identify CENP-V as a microtubule binding and bundling protein crucial to faithful oocyte meiosis, and present Cenp-V−/− oocytes as revealing age-dependent weakening of the spindle assembly checkpoint.

    • Dalileh Nabi
    • , Hauke Drechsler
    •  & Mariola Chacón

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cellular membranes have distinct lipid compositions despite intermixing, and it is unclear why plasma membrane lipids do not accumulate on endosomes. Here, the authors use the C. elegans embryo to identify lipid transfer proteins and phosphatases that are critical for endosomal lipid homeostasis.

    • Darshini Jeyasimman
    • , Bilge Ercan
    •  & Yasunori Saheki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The connection between cell cycle, metabolic state and mitochondrial activity is unclear. Here, the authors show that p107 represses mitochondrial transcription and ATP output in response to glycolytic byproducts, causing metabolic control of the cell cycle rate in myogenic progenitors.

    • Debasmita Bhattacharya
    • , Vicky Shah
    •  & Anthony Scimè

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During meiosis, chromosomes undergo dramatic changes in morphology and intranuclear positioning. Here the authors mapped the 3D genome architecture throughout mouse spermatogenesis by Hi-C of sorted cells to reveal the contributions of transcriptional activity and mechanical force in modulating homolog alignment and recombination.

    • Wu Zuo
    • , Guangming Chen
    •  & Qian Bian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    RAD51 is a well known player of DNA repair and homologous recombination. Here the authors reveal a function for RAD51 in protecting under-replicated DNA in mitotic human cells, promoting mitotic DNA synthesis (MiDAS) and successful chromosome segregation.

    • Isabel E. Wassing
    • , Emily Graham
    •  & Fumiko Esashi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Higher-order chromatin structure is temporarily disrupted during mitosis. Here the authors show that loss of the architectural factor CTCF results in failure to form structural loops and leads to inappropriate cis-regulatory contacts and alterations of compartmental interactions after mitosis. Furthermore, they show global 3D architecture is set up without transcription, but that transcription contributes to proper gene domain formation.

    • Haoyue Zhang
    • , Jessica Lam
    •  & Gerd A. Blobel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    ParA is an ATPase involved in the segregation of newly replicated DNA in bacteria. Here, structures of a ParA filament bound to DNA and of ParA in various nucleotide states offer insight into its conformational changes upon DNA binding and filament assembly, including the basis for ParA’s cooperative binding to DNA.

    • Alexandra V. Parker
    • , Daniel Mann
    •  & Julien R. C. Bergeron

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The BRCA1-PALB2-BRCA2-RAD51 (BRCA1-P) complex is well known to play a fundamental role in DNA repair, but how the complex recruitment is regulated is still a matter of interest. Here the authors reveal mechanistic insights into RNF168 activity being responsible for PALB2 recruitment, through BARD1-BRCA1 during homologous recombination repair.

    • John J. Krais
    • , Yifan Wang
    •  & Neil Johnson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cytokinetic ring constriction during cell division requires actin but curiously is independent of myosin in many organisms. Here, the authors show that anillin, a protein enriched in the contractile ring, is a non-motor actin crosslinker that generates contractile force in lieu of a molecular motor.

    • Ondřej Kučera
    • , Valerie Siahaan
    •  & Zdenek Lansky

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Patients with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) often have mutations in cohesin and its regulators; however, the molecular mechanism driving CdLS phenotypes is not well established. Here the authors reveal system skeletal organization genes are downregulated and show that cohesin and its loader Nipbl have altered and decreased genome-wide localization.

    • Patricia Garcia
    • , Rita Fernandez-Hernandez
    •  & Ethel Queralt

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    A key feature of living cells is the cell cycle. In this Perspective, the authors explore attempts to recreate this process and what is still required for an integrated synthetic cell cycle.

    • Lorenzo Olivi
    • , Mareike Berger
    •  & John van der Oost

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Glucocorticoids (GC) are reported to block cancer cell proliferation, but the mode of action is unclear. Here the authors show that glucocorticoid receptor activation induces cancer cell dormancy in lung cancer by regulating CDKN1C expression through a distal enhancer, and these dormant cells are addicted to IGF-1R signalling pathway.

    • Stefan Prekovic
    • , Karianne Schuurman
    •  & Wilbert Zwart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single-stranded DNA during DNA replication and repair in S/G2 needs protection by replication protein A (RPA). Here the authors reveal that RPA also shields inherited single-stranded DNA in G1, representing replication remnants from the previous cell cycle, to allow for post-mitotic DNA synthesis.

    • Aleksandra Lezaja
    • , Andreas Panagopoulos
    •  & Matthias Altmeyer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Centriole biogenesis begins with self-assembly of SAS-6 proteins into 9-fold symmetrical ring polymers, which then stack into a cartwheel that scaffolds organelle formation. Here, the authors develop monobodies against Chlamydomonas reinhardtii SAS-6 and use X-ray crystallography, atomic force microscopy and cryo-electron microscopy to reveal insights into ring assembly and stacking.

    • Georgios N. Hatzopoulos
    • , Tim Kükenshöner
    •  & Pierre Gönczy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Progression of the cell division cycle requires feedback loops including those of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation; however the precise regulation of phosphorylation kinetics of Arpp19, an inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A, is unclear. Here, the authors report that feedback between phosphorylation states of Ser67 and Ser109 of Arpp19 coordinates Arpp19-dependent inhibition of PP2A-B55 and Cyclin B activation during cell cycle progression.

    • Jean Claude Labbé
    • , Suzanne Vigneron
    •  & Thierry Lorca

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In most bacteria, cell division depends on tubulin homolog FtsZ and other proteins, such as SepF. Cell division in many archaea also depends on FtsZ. Here, Nußbaum et al. show that a SepF homolog plays important roles in cell division in Haloferax volcanii, a halophilic archaeon that has two FtsZ homologs.

    • Phillip Nußbaum
    • , Maren Gerstner
    •  & Sonja-Verena Albers

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Clinical CDK4/6 inhibitors are used and tested to treat a variety of cancer types. Here, the authors identify that these drugs work in two ways, a known catalytic role to inhibit kinase activity and a newly discovered noncatalytic role to displace CDK inhibitor p21 from CDK4 but not CDK6 complexes.

    • Lindsey R. Pack
    • , Leighton H. Daigh
    •  & Tobias Meyer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most archaea divide by binary fission using an FtsZ-based system that is poorly understood. Here, the authors combine structural, cellular, and evolutionary analyses to show that the SepF protein acts as the FtsZ anchor in the archaeon Methanobrevibacter smithii.

    • Nika Pende
    • , Adrià Sogues
    •  & Simonetta Gribaldo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How the developing skin epidermis is transformed from a simple single-layered epithelium to a complex and stratified barrier is still an open question. Here, the authors provide a model based on high proliferation and delamination of the keratinocyte progenitors that support the stratification process.

    • Mareike Damen
    • , Lisa Wirtz
    •  & Hisham Bazzi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During cell division, the actin cytoskeletal network at both the equatorial contractile ring and cell cortex are known to play a role, but the regulation of γ-actin during cytokinesis is less well understood. Here, the authors show that recruitment of β-actin to the contractile ring and loss of γ-actin from the cell poles is required for completion of cell division.

    • Anan Chen
    • , Luisa Ulloa Severino
    •  & Andrew Wilde

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