Reviews & Analysis

The proper establishment of the skin barrier during embryogenesis and its maintenance during adult homeostasis is crucial for survival. Interestingly, the molecular mechanisms that govern embryonic development of the epidermis are reused during adult life to regulate skin homeostasis.

Myofibril assembly results in an array of identical sarcomeres in striated muscle. Recent studies have begun to unravel the mechanisms that set sarcomere spacing and the assembly of initial sarcomere arrays, and point to integrin-dependent adhesion as the starting point for myofibrillogenesis.

Maintenance of organ homeostasis and control of appropriate responses to environmental alterations requires the coordination of cellular functions and tissue organization. This coordination could be achieved by proteins that can have distinct but linked functions on both sides of the plasma membrane.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that bind to the 3′ untranslated region of target mRNAs to repress their translation and stability. Recently, miRNAs have been shown to regulate stem cell fate and behaviour by fine-tuning the protein levels of factors that are required for their function.

The 26S proteasome is a large protein complex that consists of a catalytic 20S core and a 19S regulatory particle, each of which contains numerous subunits. Proteasome-dedicated chaperones guarantee the efficient and correct assembly of this degradation machine, which is essential for its function.

Recent progress in high-throughput sequencing has uncovered an astounding landscape of small RNAs in eukaryotic cells. Various small RNAs can be classified into three classes based on their biogenesis mechanism and the type of Argonaute protein that they are associated with.

General principles that govern how microRNAs select their targets and determine their mode of action are being challenged by recent findings in plant and animal systems. A common shortcoming of studies to date has been to address these questions under truein vivoconditions.

Genetic studies combined within vivoimaging analysis have identified signalling pathways and developmentally regulated transcription factors that govern cell lineage allocation and axis patterning in the early mammalian embryo. These mechanisms are also conserved in lower vertebrates.

During anaphase, the mitotic spindle reorganizes in preparation for cytokinesis. Kinesin motor proteins and microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) bundle the interpolar microtubule plus ends and generate the central spindle, which regulates cleavage furrow initiation and the completion of cytokinesis.

Cells respond to a wide range of signals from the surrounding extracellular matrix. Research into the complex interplay between cell adhesion and the cytoskeleton, combined with advanced surface nanoengineering technologies, can shed light on the mechanisms by which cells sense the neighbouring nanoenvironment.

Neurons that sense touch, sound and acceleration respond rapidly to specific mechanical signals. But what are the proteins that transduce these signals? Current studies are directed towards characterizing channel proteins as candidate transduction molecules and determining how they are mechanically gated.

Cells sense their physical surroundings by translating mechanical forces and deformations into biochemical signals. Defects in mechanotransduction are implicated in the development of many diseases, ranging from muscular dystrophies, cardiomyopathies and loss of hearing to cancer progression and metastasis.

Mechanical forces regulate basic cellular processes, such as proliferation, differentiation and tissue organization during embryogenesis. What are the mechanisms that underlie force-induced mechanotransduction during development? And what is the role of actomyosin-mediated contractile forces in the regulation of cell and tissue structure and function?

Mechanical forces that are exerted on surface-adhesion receptors can be channelled along cytoskeletal filaments and concentrated at distant sites in the cytoplasm and nucleus. How do these forces act at a distance to induce mechanochemical conversion in the nucleus, and what effects can they have on the cell?

Blood flow is crucial for vascular morphogenesis and physiology. Endothelial cells respond to blood flow by transducing mechanical forces into biochemical signals that regulate cellular responses. Chronic exposure to disturbed flow causes the constant activation of these cellular responses, which cause vessel dysfunction and disease.