Rijuta Lamba, Asia M Paguntalan, Petar B Petrov, Alexandra Naba, Valerio Izzi
{"title":"MatriCom: a scRNA-Seq data mining tool to infer ECM-ECM and cell-ECM communication systems.","authors":"Rijuta Lamba, Asia M Paguntalan, Petar B Petrov, Alexandra Naba, Valerio Izzi","doi":"10.1242/jcs.263927","DOIUrl":"10.1242/jcs.263927","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ECM is a complex meshwork of proteins forming the framework of all multicellular organisms. Protein interactions are critical to building and remodeling the ECM meshwork, while interactions between ECM proteins and receptors are essential to initiate signal transduction. Here, we present MatriCom, a web application (https://matrinet.shinyapps.io/matricom) and a companion R package, devised to infer communications between ECM components and between different cell populations and the ECM from scRNA-Seq datasets. MatriCom relies on a unique database, MatriComDB, of over 25,000 curated interactions involving matrisome components to impute interactions from expression data. MatriCom offers the option to query user-generated or open-access datasets sourced from large sequencing efforts. MatriCom also accounts for specific rules governing ECM protein interactions. We illustrate how MatriCom can generate novel biological insights by building the first human kidney matrisome communication network. Last, applied to a panel of 46 scRNA-Seq datasets of healthy adult tissues, we demonstrate how MatriCom can shed light on the mechanisms of conservation and diversification of ECM assemblies and cell/ECM interactions.</p>","PeriodicalId":15227,"journal":{"name":"Journal of cell science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144274965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cátia A Carvalho, Mihoko A Tame, Daniel St Johnston
{"title":"Adherens junctions limit septate junction length in Drosophila midgut enterocytes but are not required for polarity.","authors":"Cátia A Carvalho, Mihoko A Tame, Daniel St Johnston","doi":"10.1242/jcs.263644","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.263644","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Adherens junctions formed by E-cadherin adhesion complexes play central roles in the organisation and apical-basal polarisation of both mammalian and insect epithelia. Here we investigate the function of the components of the E-cadherin adhesion complex in the Drosophila midgut epithelium, which establishes polarity by a different mechanism from other fly epithelia and has an inverted junctional arrangement, in which the adherens junctions lie below the septate junctions. Unlike other epithelial tissues, loss of E-cadherin, Armadillo (β-catenin) or ⍺-catenin has no effect on the polarity or organisation of the adult midgut epithelium. This is not due to redundancy with other cadherins, as enterocytes lacking E-cadherin, N-cadherin and CadN2 still polarise normally. However, E-cadherin (shg) and armadillo mutants have expanded septate junction domains and shorter lateral domains below the septate junctions, indicating that E-cadherin adhesion complexes limit the basal extent of the septate junctions. Thus, Cadherin-mediated adhesion is dispensable for apical-basal polarity and epithelial organisation in the Drosophila midgut, in contrast to all other epithelia that have been studied so far, but it is required to define the size of the septate junctions and cell height.</p>","PeriodicalId":15227,"journal":{"name":"Journal of cell science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144248032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A single-chain antibody-based AID2 system for conditional degradation of GFP-tagged and untagged proteins.","authors":"Moutushi Islam, Takefumi Negishi, Naomi Kitamoto, Yuki Hatoyama, Kanae Gamo, Ken-Ichiro Hayashi, Masato T Kanemaki","doi":"10.1242/jcs.263961","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.263961","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Protein knockdown using an improved auxin-inducible degron (AID2) technology has proven to be a powerful tool for studying protein function. The current approach requires the fusion of target proteins with a degron tag, a process typically achieved through CRISPR knock-in. However, knock-in remains challenging in non-model organisms and humans, limiting the broader applicability of AID2. To overcome this limitation, we developed a single-chain antibody AID2 (scAb-AID2) system. This approach employs an adaptor composed of a single-chain antibody fused with a degron, which recognizes a target protein and induces rapid degradation in the presence of the inducer 5-Ph-IAA. We demonstrated that scAb-AID2, in combination with an anti-GFP nanobody, degraded GFP-fused proteins in human cells and Caenorhabditis elegans. Furthermore, we showed that endogenous p53 and H/K-RAS were conditionally degraded in cells expressing an adaptor encoding an anti-p53 nanobody and -RAS monobody, respectively, and led to aphidicolin sensitivity in cell culture and growth inhibition in mouse xenografts. This study paves the way for broader application of AID2-based target depletion in model and non-model organisms and for advancing therapeutic strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":15227,"journal":{"name":"Journal of cell science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144248031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Intra-Golgi Golgin PpSgm1 and GRIP domain Golgin PpImh1 synergistically mediate Golgi cisternal stacking.","authors":"Roma Dahara, Dibyendu Bhattacharyya","doi":"10.1242/jcs.263612","DOIUrl":"10.1242/jcs.263612","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Regulation of the distinctive stacked Golgi morphology remains an unresolved subject. Using the budding yeast Pichia pastoris, we have previously documented the role of GRIP domain Golgin P. pastoris (Pp)Imh1 in cisternal stacking, regulated by the Arl3-Arl1 GTPase cascade switch. Expanding our work with the present study, we demonstrate the participation of PpSgm1, another conserved Golgin, in this stacking process alongside PpImh1. Null mutation of P. pastoris SGM1 caused partial unstacking of the late cisternae from the Golgi stack, implicating its role in cisternal stacking. When we overexpressed PpImh1 or PpSgm1 independently, each failed to restore stacking in the absence of the other, suggesting neither of them is sufficient for cisternal stacking alone. On the other hand, a double knockout of PpIMH1 and PpSGM1 led to a dramatic phenotype, causing complete separation of the late cisternae from the Golgi stack and significantly increasing TGN peeling, as seen in electron microscopy and live-cell imaging. Our results suggest a synergistic collaboration of PpImh1 and PpSgm1 in cisternal stacking, with implications for a conserved mechanism across species.</p>","PeriodicalId":15227,"journal":{"name":"Journal of cell science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144020557","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gabriel P Faber, Gilad Gross, Oz Mualem, Matan Y Avivi, Hiba Waldman Ben-Asher, Orly Yaron, Noa Kinor, Orit Shefi, Rakefet Ben-Yishay, Dana Ishay-Ronen, Yaron Shav-Tal
{"title":"Glutamine modulates stress granule formation in cancer cells through core RNA-binding proteins.","authors":"Gabriel P Faber, Gilad Gross, Oz Mualem, Matan Y Avivi, Hiba Waldman Ben-Asher, Orly Yaron, Noa Kinor, Orit Shefi, Rakefet Ben-Yishay, Dana Ishay-Ronen, Yaron Shav-Tal","doi":"10.1242/jcs.263679","DOIUrl":"10.1242/jcs.263679","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cytoplasmic stress granules (SGs) induced by various stresses have been linked to cancer and other disorders. Which active energy pathways are required for SG formation remains unclear. We used nutrient deprivation to show that glutamine is the sole amino acid source governing whether cancer cells form SGs. Metabolic profiling revealed the essential functions of glutamine and glucose in SG formation under limiting metabolic conditions. Providing glutamine during metabolic stress restored ATP levels in cancer cells and revived many essential gene expression patterns. MYC, a known regulator of the shift between glucose and glutamine metabolism, showed increased expression as cells moved to glutamine uptake. Inhibition of MYC prevented SG formation even with glutamine present and increased cell death after arsenite exposure. The RNA-binding proteins G3BP1 and G3BP2 (collectively G3BP1/2) were required for glutamine utilization, with G3BP1/2-knockout cells displaying a heavier reliance on glucose, yielding reduced cell survival and an inability to properly utilize glutamine. Altogether, we show that cancer cells require glutamine for SG formation under nutrient deprivation, and its absence reduces cell survival, lowering ATP levels below an energy threshold required for SG formation.</p>","PeriodicalId":15227,"journal":{"name":"Journal of cell science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12188316/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144078318","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"AID-2×RBD27, an auxin-inducible degron-based Rab27 trapper that reversibly inhibits the function of Rab27A in melanocytes.","authors":"Akira Sugawara, Yuto Maruta, Mitsunori Fukuda","doi":"10.1242/jcs.263878","DOIUrl":"10.1242/jcs.263878","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Small GTPase Rabs are evolutionarily conserved regulators of intracellular membrane traffic and regulate multiple steps in membrane trafficking. Although various approaches have been used to identify the function(s) of individual Rabs, no simple tool that reversibly inhibits the function of Rab has ever been reported. Here, we developed a novel tool, named AID-2×RBD27 (auxin-inducible degron-tagged tandem Rab27-binding domain), that reversibly inhibits the function of Rab27 and then evaluated its usefulness by using Rab27A-mediated melanosome transport as a model. We showed that expression and degradation of AID-2×RBD27 in melanocytes caused reversible changes in melanosome distribution between perinuclear melanosome aggregation and peripheral melanosome dispersion. By performing 3D live-cell imaging in combination, we found that two types of anterograde melanosome transport are involved in peripheral melanosome dispersion, i.e. fast, long-range melanosome transport in the microtubule-enriched inner cellular region, especially in the dendrite, and slow, intermittent melanosome transport along the cortical actin filaments. Our new concept of an auxin-inducible degron-Rab-binding domain system would apply to all other Rabs as a means of investigating various Rab-mediated membrane trafficking events by reversibly inhibiting them.</p>","PeriodicalId":15227,"journal":{"name":"Journal of cell science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12188314/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143968016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Graziana Modica, Joannie Roy, Antoine G Godin, Hugo Wurtele, Santiago Costantino
{"title":"Focus on numbers - characterizing protein accumulation at DNA double-strand breaks.","authors":"Graziana Modica, Joannie Roy, Antoine G Godin, Hugo Wurtele, Santiago Costantino","doi":"10.1242/jcs.263483","DOIUrl":"10.1242/jcs.263483","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Unrepaired DNA double-strand breaks can lead to cell death or genomic rearrangements. The DNA damage response (DDR) is a complex signaling cascade in which a plethora of factors act to finely tune repair pathway choice. Several DDR proteins have been shown to accumulate at sites of DNA lesions in characteristic dot-like structures known as DNA repair foci. Changes in foci brightness, commonly expressed in arbitrary intensity units, are often used as readout for DNA repair dynamics. However, due in part to technical challenges, the stoichiometry, absolute number of proteins recruited to DDR foci, and their impact on the resolution of the break remain incompletely characterized. Here, we combine spatial intensity distribution analysis (SpIDA) and a custom foci detection algorithm into an easy-to-use pipeline that, starting from confocal images, allows quantitative description of protein accumulation in DNA repair foci. Moreover, by quantifying foci based on their molecular count, SpIDA overcomes the limitations of ambiguous intensity units, enabling stoichiometric quantification between repair factors and providing a unifying means for experimental comparisons.</p>","PeriodicalId":15227,"journal":{"name":"Journal of cell science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143995007","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bhagya Shree Choudhary, Nazia Chaudhary, Bushra K Khan, Aditi Vijan, Dibita Mandal, Leena Pilankar, Shubham Gawand, Prerana Uttankar, Megha Sharma, Anusha Shivashankar, Rinki Doloi, Neha Joshi, Manjula Das, Sorab N Dalal
{"title":"LCN2 promotes focal adhesion formation and invasion by stimulating c-Src activation.","authors":"Bhagya Shree Choudhary, Nazia Chaudhary, Bushra K Khan, Aditi Vijan, Dibita Mandal, Leena Pilankar, Shubham Gawand, Prerana Uttankar, Megha Sharma, Anusha Shivashankar, Rinki Doloi, Neha Joshi, Manjula Das, Sorab N Dalal","doi":"10.1242/jcs.263663","DOIUrl":"10.1242/jcs.263663","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Previous work has demonstrated that lipocalin2 (LCN2) expression promotes invasion and migration in multiple tumor types. The mechanisms by which LCN2 promotes invasion and migration remain unclear. Previous work from our laboratory demonstrated that LCN2 promotes actin filament formation by inhibiting actin glutathionylation. In this study, we demonstrate that, in addition to inhibiting actin glutathionylation, LCN2 stimulates invasion by promoting the formation of focal adhesions, which is independent of the ability of LCN2 to bind iron (Fe3+). We showed that LCN2 promotes focal adhesion formation by promoting the activation of c-Src (also known as SRC) by stimulating expression of the transcription factor ETS1. ETS1, in turn, upregulates expression of the protein phosphatase PTP1B, resulting in the auto-activation of c-Src and increased paxillin phosphorylation, leading to focal adhesion formation. These results demonstrate that LCN2 has iron-dependent and -independent functions in promoting invasion and highlight the multiple mechanisms by which LCN2 promotes invasion, suggesting that c-Src inhibitors could be used to treat invasive colorectal cancer.</p>","PeriodicalId":15227,"journal":{"name":"Journal of cell science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12188317/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144018778","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hypothesis that ancestral eukaryotes sexually proliferated without kinetochores or mitosis.","authors":"Bungo Akiyoshi","doi":"10.1242/jcs.263843","DOIUrl":"10.1242/jcs.263843","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Eukaryotes possess two different mechanisms to transmit genetic material - mitosis and meiosis. Because mitosis is universal in all present-day eukaryotes, it has been widely assumed, despite the absence of definitive evidence, that meiosis evolved from mitosis during eukaryogenesis. In both processes, chromosome movement depends on interactions between spindle microtubules and a macromolecular protein complex called the kinetochore that assembles onto centromere DNA. Spindle microtubules consist of α- and β-tubulin subunits, which are conserved in all studied eukaryotes. Similarly, canonical kinetochore components are found in almost all eukaryotes. However, an evolutionarily divergent group of organisms called kinetoplastids has a unique set of kinetochore proteins. It remains unclear why and when different types of kinetochores evolved. In this Hypothesis article, I propose that the last eukaryotic common ancestor (LECA) did not have a kinetochore and that these two kinetochore systems evolved independently - one in the ancestor of kinetoplastids and another in the ancestor of all other eukaryotes. Based on the notion that archaea and the LECA possessed cell fusion and genetic exchange machineries, I further propose that key aspects of meiosis evolved prior to mitosis, challenging the dogma that meiosis evolved from mitosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":15227,"journal":{"name":"Journal of cell science","volume":"138 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12188315/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144258161","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ondrej Maxian, Katrina M Longhini, Michael Glotzer
{"title":"A minimal mathematical model for polarity establishment and centralspindlin-independent cytokinesis.","authors":"Ondrej Maxian, Katrina M Longhini, Michael Glotzer","doi":"10.1242/jcs.264093","DOIUrl":"10.1242/jcs.264093","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cell polarization and cytokinesis are fundamental processes in organismal development. In the Caenorhabditis elegans model system, both processes are partially driven by local inhibition of contractility at the cell poles. This inhibition comes from Aurora A kinase (AIR-1), which is activated on centrosomes and diffuses to the cortex, where it inhibits the guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) ECT-2, attenuating RHO-1 activation and actomyosin-based contractility. Although these biochemical processes have been characterized experimentally, a quantitative understanding of how this circuit drives cortical dynamics in polarization and cytokinesis is still lacking. Here, we constructed a mathematical model to test whether a minimal set of well-characterized, essential elements are necessary and sufficient to explain the spatiotemporal dynamics of AIR-1, ECT-2 and myosin during polarization and cytokinesis of C. elegans. We show that robust establishment of polarity can be obtained in response to a weak AIR-1 signal and demonstrate the relevance of rapid ECT-2 exchange and persistent AIR-1 cues during polarization. The model, tuned for polarization, can also predict ECT-2 accumulation during cytokinesis, suggesting a quantitative similarity between the two processes.</p>","PeriodicalId":15227,"journal":{"name":"Journal of cell science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12188313/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144007467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}