Review
Immunology
Cecilia Banuelos, Abigail Betanzos, Rosario Javier-Reyna, Ausencio Galindo, Esther Orozco
Summary: This study summarizes the research progress on the ESCRT machinery in E. histolytica, focusing on the role of ESCRT-I and ESCRT-III components and the EhADH and EhVps4-ATPase accessory proteins in phagocytosis. The study found that EhADH plays a multifunctional role in the endocytic pathway and interacts with EhVps32 to form a concurrent route for MVBs biogenesis. In addition, other components from the endosomal pathway are also secreted.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jeremy Magescas, Sani Eskinazi, Michael Tran, Jessica L. Feldman
Summary: This study utilized C. elegans as a model organism to identify a minimal module of proteins required for centrosomal MTOC function by analyzing natural spatial separation of PCM proteins during mitotic exit. The research found that SPD-5 and gamma-TuRC play essential roles in driving MTOC function in centriole-less PCM structure. The study highlights the intrinsic ability of these proteins to regulate microtubule growth and organization, with SPD-5 identified as the primary driver of MTOC function at the PCM.
Article
Biology
Ming-Yue Ma, Ji Xia, Kun-Xian Shu, Deng-Ke Niu
Summary: The evolution of spliceosomal introns in nematodes shows significant heterogeneity across different lineages and evolutionary stages. While intron losses far exceed gains, the dominant model for intron loss in Caenorhabditis species is cDNA-mediated. Nematodes are considered a typical eukaryotic group in intron evolution rather than an outlier.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Joachim Garbrecht, Triin Laos, Elisabeth Holzer, Margarita Dillinger, Alexander Dammermann
Summary: The study explored a novel type of centrosome found at the ciliary base of C. elegans sensory neurons, which plays important roles in neuronal morphogenesis, cellular trafficking, and ciliogenesis. These centrosomes exhibit similar dynamic behavior to canonical, mitotic centrosomes, but are not organized by centrioles, instead relying on other proteins for maintenance.
Article
Cell Biology
Helder Rocha, Patricia A. Simoes, Jacqueline Budrewicz, Pablo Lara-Gonzalez, Ana Xavier Carvalho, Julien Dumont, Arshad Desai, Reto Gassmann
Summary: This study demonstrates that PP4 protein phosphatase is a crucial factor for robust assembly of the microtubule-coupling outer kinetochore prior to nuclear envelope breakdown in mitotic cells. Absence of PP4 leads to extended monopolar orientation of chromosomes after nuclear envelope breakdown and subsequent mis-segregation. Defective sister chromatid resolution is also observed due to diminished outer kinetochore assembly.
JOURNAL OF CELL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Madhuja Samaddar, Jerome Goudeau, Melissa Sanchez, David H. Hall, K. Adam Bohnert, Maria Ingaramo, Cynthia Kenyon
Summary: In Caenorhabditis elegans, oocyte maturation signals trigger the clearance of carbonylated proteins and protein aggregates, maintaining the immortal nature of the germ-cell lineage.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Braveen O. Joseph, Naava D. Naslavsky, Shaonil Binti, Sylvia S. Conquest, Lexi P. Robison, Ge D. Bai, Rafael P. Homer, Barth D. Grant, Steve P. Caplan, David D. Fay
Summary: NIMA-related kinases play important roles in cell cycle progression, checkpoint-DNA damage control, and ciliogenesis. This study found that NEKL-2 and NEKL-3 also have distinct roles in controlling endosome function and morphology. The loss of NEKLs leads to defects in the sorting and recycling of cargo in multiple endosomal compartments. These findings suggest the importance of NEK kinases in endocytosis and their potential involvement in human diseases.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jeongho Kim, Moonjung Hyun, Masahiko Hibi, Young-Jai You
Summary: Kim et al. demonstrate that octopamine and norepinephrine play a crucial role in maintaining oocyte quiescence across different species, revealing an evolutionarily conserved function of noradrenergic signaling in this process.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Alexander Woglar, Marie Pierron, Fabian Zacharias Schneider, Keshav Jha, Coralie Busso, Pierre Gonczy
Summary: This study used U-Ex-STED microscopy and electron microscopy (EM) to reveal the molecular architecture of the C. elegans centriole in unprecedented detail. The researchers found that centriolar and PeriCentriolar Material (PCM) components exhibited a ring-like distribution with distinct diameters and often with a 9-fold radial symmetry. Additionally, they discovered the assembly location of the procentriole and its relationship with other components.
Article
Developmental Biology
Gregory M. Davis, Hayleigh Hipwell, Peter R. Boag
Summary: The nematode Caenorhabiditis elegans is a valuable model for studying metazoan biology due to its transparent body, invariant cell lineage, ease of genetic manipulation, and genetic conservation with higher eukaryotes. Its well annotated germline allows real-time observation of all aspects of oogenesis within a single animal, making it an outstanding model for exploring each feature of oogenesis. This review focuses on the key features that make C. elegans an exceptional model for studying germ line function and germ cell maturation.
SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Janina Laborenz, Yury S. Bykov, Katharina Knoeringer, Markus Raeschle, Sabine Filker, Cristina Prescianotto-Baschong, Anne Spang, Takashi Tatsuta, Thomas Langer, Zuzana Storchova, Maya Schuldiner, Johannes M. Herrmann
Summary: This study demonstrates the important role of the endoplasmic reticulum protein Ema19 in mitochondrial protein targeting, promoting the degradation of nonproductive precursor proteins. Deletion of Ema19 improves the growth of respiration-deficient cells, indicating a competitive relationship between Ema19-mediated degradation and productive protein import into mitochondria. Ema19, a member of a conserved protein family, also has a human homologue known as sigma 2 receptor or TMEM97.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE CELL
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Hirohisa Chiyoda, Masahiko Kume, Carla Cadena del Castillo, Kenji Kontani, Anne Spang, Toshiaki Katada, Masamitsu Fukuyama
Summary: The PTR-18 protein plays a critical role in clearing extracellular hedgehog-related proteins and maintaining quiescence of progenitor cells. Both PTR-18 and GRL-7 proteins are localized around the apical membrane of cells in late embryonic stages and targeted for degradation before hatching.
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Francesca Bottanelli, Anne Spang, Chris Stefan, Christian Ungermann
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
David Z. Kochan, Julia S. P. Mawer, Jennifer Massen, Kiril Tishinov, Swati Parekh, Martin Graef, Anne Spang, Peter Tessarz
Summary: The study reveals that Puf5 plays a crucial role in post-transcriptional buffering, helping to balance the dysregulation of chromatin structure and transcription to maintain optimal mRNA levels.
JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Carla E. Cadena del Castillo, J. Thomas Hannich, Andres Kaech, Hirohisa Chiyoda, Jonathan Brewer, Masamitsu Fukuyama, Nils J. Faergeman, Howard Riezman, Anne Spang
Summary: The study reveals that the hedgehog signaling receptor PTCH functions as a cholesterol transporter. Reduction in PTCH activity leads to cellular cholesterol accumulation, resulting in changes in nuclear hormone receptor activity and fatty acid metabolism. This sheds light on the role of PTCH in maintaining organelle structure and fat metabolism.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Jennifer D. Cohen, Carla E. Cadena del Castillo, Nicholas D. Serra, Andres Kaech, Anne Spang, Meera Sundaram
Summary: The study focused on the role of PTR-4, a Patched-related protein, in Caenorhabditis elegans, revealing its involvement in the assembly of the precuticle matrix and its localization at the apical side of certain epithelial cells. Defects in PTR-4 lead to abnormalities in cuticle and molting, possibly due to earlier disorganization in the precuticle layer.
Article
Biology
Anna L. L. Matos, Fabian Keller, Tristan Wegner, Carla Elizabeth Cadena del Castillo, David Grill, Sergej Kudruk, Anne Spang, Frank Glorius, Andreas Heuer, Volker Gerke
Summary: The study characterizes previously developed cholesterol analogues, named CHIMs, which can replace cholesterol functionally in cell membranes, visualize cholesterol dynamics in cells, and follow cholesterol trafficking pathways in live organisms.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jachen Solinger, Harun-Or Rashid, Anne Spang
Summary: Cellular organization, compartmentalization, and cell-to-cell communication rely on endosomal pathways, and FERARI plays a crucial role in coordinating these pathways and regulating cargo flow through sorting endosomes via a kiss-and-run mechanism.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jachen A. Solinger, Anne Spang
Summary: Intercellular communication is a necessary process in multicellular organisms, where molecules secreted by one cell bind to a receptor on another cell. The fate of the receptor-ligand complex and other endocytosed proteins is determined by the cell, with the majority being recycled back to the plasma membrane and the rest being degraded in the lysosome. This review summarizes the current understanding of the mechanism behind recycling cargo sorting and proposes a model of differential affinities between cargo and cargo receptors/adaptors for iterative sorting in endosomes.
Article
Cell Biology
Viktoria Szentgyoergyi, Anne Spang
Summary: Cargo delivery in cellular organelles relies on the fusion of vesicles with the help of tethering factors. Recent studies show that tethers play a significant role in membrane fusion, and the discovery of novel tether FERARI complex has changed our understanding of cargo transport.
JOURNAL OF CELL SCIENCE
(2023)
Review
Cell Biology
Dominik P. Buser, Anne Spang
Summary: Retrograde transport is crucial for recycling protein and lipid cargoes, including receptors, enzymes, and transporters, from endosomes to the trans-Golgi network. Different sorting machineries are involved in this process, selectively recognizing and concentrating the cargo molecules. Understanding and analyzing these transport pathways are essential for studying intracellular trafficking.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Correction
Biology
Anna L. L. Matos, Fabian Keller, Tristan Wegner, Carla Elizabeth Cadena del Castillo, David Grill, Sergej Kudruk, Anne Spang, Frank Glorius, Andreas Heuer, Volker Gerke
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Anne Spang
Summary: Eukaryotic cells are complex factories that have developed intracellular communication systems to ensure productivity and functionality, as well as communication with their environment. In recent years, there has been a shift in the understanding of intracellular communication towards a more holistic view, with touching, kissing, fusing emerging as general principles of communication between organelles.
