{"title":"Shaping epithelial tissues by stem cell mechanics in development and cancer","authors":"Vincent F. Fiore, Jorge Almagro, Elaine Fuchs","doi":"10.1038/s41580-024-00821-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41580-024-00821-0","url":null,"abstract":"Adult stem cells balance self-renewal and differentiation to build, maintain and repair tissues. The role of signalling pathways and transcriptional networks in controlling stem cell function has been extensively studied, but there is increasing appreciation that mechanical forces also have a crucial regulatory role. Mechanical forces, signalling pathways and transcriptional networks must be coordinated across diverse length and timescales to maintain tissue homeostasis and function. Such coordination between stem cells and neighbouring cells dictates when cells divide, migrate and differentiate. Recent advances in measuring and manipulating the mechanical forces that act upon and are produced by stem cells are providing new insights into development and disease. In this Review, we discuss the mechanical forces involved when epithelial stem cells construct their microenvironment and what happens in cancer when stem cell niche mechanics are disrupted or dysregulated. As the skin has evolved to withstand the harsh mechanical pressures from the outside environment, we often use the stem cells of mammalian skin epithelium as a paradigm for adult stem cells shaping their surrounding tissues. Adult stem cells self-renew and differentiate to build, maintain and repair tissues. This Review discusses recent insights into the contribution of mechanical forces produced by epithelial stem cell activity in building surrounding tissues, and the roles of stem cell niche mechanics disruption in cancer.","PeriodicalId":19051,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology","volume":"26 6","pages":"442-455"},"PeriodicalIF":81.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143055052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The centromere as a tag of self-DNA","authors":"Ruth Kroschewski","doi":"10.1038/s41580-025-00827-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41580-025-00827-2","url":null,"abstract":"Intriguing findings in yeast suggested that centromeres ‘tag’ DNA as self and allow its condensation during mitosis; vice versa, if a certain DNA is condensed during mitosis, it harbours a centromere.","PeriodicalId":19051,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology","volume":"26 3","pages":"172-172"},"PeriodicalIF":81.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143055051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jesus M. Gomez-Salinero, David Redmond, Shahin Rafii
{"title":"Microenvironmental determinants of endothelial cell heterogeneity","authors":"Jesus M. Gomez-Salinero, David Redmond, Shahin Rafii","doi":"10.1038/s41580-024-00825-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41580-024-00825-w","url":null,"abstract":"During development, endothelial cells (ECs) undergo an extraordinary specialization by which generic capillary microcirculatory networks spanning from arteries to veins transform into patterned organotypic zonated blood vessels. These capillary ECs become specialized to support the cellular and metabolic demands of each specific organ, including supplying tissue-specific angiocrine factors that orchestrate organ development, maintenance of organ-specific functions and regeneration of injured adult organs. Here, we illustrate the mechanisms by which microenvironmental signals emanating from non-vascular niche cells induce generic ECs to acquire specific inter-organ and intra-organ functional attributes. We describe how perivascular, parenchymal and immune cells dictate vascular heterogeneity and capillary zonation, and how this system is maintained through tissue-specific signalling activated by vasculogenic and angiogenic factors and deposition of matrix components. We also discuss how perturbation of organotypic vascular niche cues lead to erasure of EC signatures, contributing to the pathogenesis of disease processes. We also describe approaches that use reconstitution of tissue-specific signatures of ECs to promote regeneration of damaged organs. Endothelial cells (ECs) undergo organ-specific specialization, driven by microenvironmental cues, to form patterned vascular networks. This article discusses mechanisms driving vascular inter-organ and intra-organ EC heterogeneity, crosstalk between ECs and neighbouring cells, and the therapeutic potential of engineering ECs.","PeriodicalId":19051,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology","volume":"26 6","pages":"476-495"},"PeriodicalIF":81.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143049942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Benjamín Cartes-Saavedra, Arijita Ghosh, György Hajnóczky
{"title":"The roles of mitochondria in global and local intracellular calcium signalling","authors":"Benjamín Cartes-Saavedra, Arijita Ghosh, György Hajnóczky","doi":"10.1038/s41580-024-00820-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41580-024-00820-1","url":null,"abstract":"Activation of Ca2+ channels in Ca2+ stores in organelles and the plasma membrane generates cytoplasmic calcium ([Ca2+]c) signals that control almost every aspect of cell function, including metabolism, vesicle fusion and contraction. Mitochondria have a high capacity for Ca2+ uptake and chelation, alongside efficient Ca2+ release mechanisms. Still, mitochondria do not store Ca2+ in a prolonged manner under physiological conditions and lack the capacity to generate global [Ca2+]c signals. However, mitochondria take up Ca2+ at high local [Ca2+]c signals that originate from neighbouring organelles, and also during sustained global elevations of [Ca2+]c. Accumulated Ca2+ in the mitochondria stimulates oxidative metabolism and upon return to the cytoplasm, can produce spatially confined rises in [Ca2+]c to exert control over processes that are sensitive to Ca2+. Thus, the mitochondrial handling of [Ca2+]c is of physiological relevance. Furthermore, dysregulation of mitochondrial Ca2+ handling can contribute to debilitating diseases. We discuss the mechanisms and relevance of mitochondria in local and global calcium signals. Mitochondria rapidly take up calcium (Ca2+) from the cytoplasm and neighbouring organelles upon an increase in local and global calcium levels, thereby stimulating metabolism and regulating processes that are sensitive to Ca2+. This Review discusses mitochondrial calcium trafficking and its dysregulation in disease.","PeriodicalId":19051,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology","volume":"26 6","pages":"456-475"},"PeriodicalIF":81.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143044165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mechanistic insights into Wnt–β-catenin pathway activation and signal transduction","authors":"Madelon M. Maurice, Stephane Angers","doi":"10.1038/s41580-024-00823-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41580-024-00823-y","url":null,"abstract":"In multicellular organisms, Wnt proteins govern stem and progenitor cell renewal and differentiation to regulate embryonic development, adult tissue homeostasis and tissue regeneration. Defects in canonical Wnt signalling, which is transduced intracellularly by β-catenin, have been associated with developmental disorders, degenerative diseases and cancers. Although a simple model describing Wnt–β-catenin signalling is widely used to introduce this pathway and has largely remained unchanged over the past 30 years, in this Review we discuss recent studies that have provided important new insights into the mechanisms of Wnt production, receptor activation and intracellular signalling that advance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie this important cell–cell communication system. In addition, we review the recent development of molecules capable of activating the Wnt–β-catenin pathway with selectivity in vitro and in vivo that is enabling new lines of study to pave the way for the development of Wnt therapies for the treatment of human diseases. Wnt–β-catenin signalling regulates stem cell renewal, development and tissue homeostasis. In this Review, the authors examine recent findings concerning Wnt protein production, receptor activation and intracellular signalling, focusing on the regulation of the β-catenin destruction complex.","PeriodicalId":19051,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology","volume":"26 5","pages":"371-388"},"PeriodicalIF":81.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143026720","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A guide to the biogenesis and functions of endogenous small non-coding RNAs in animals","authors":"Karina Jouravleva, Phillip D. Zamore","doi":"10.1038/s41580-024-00818-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41580-024-00818-9","url":null,"abstract":"Small non-coding RNAs can be categorized into two main classes: structural RNAs and regulatory RNAs. Structural RNAs, which are abundant and ubiquitously expressed, have essential roles in the maturation of pre-mRNAs, modification of rRNAs and the translation of coding transcripts. By contrast, regulatory RNAs are often expressed in a developmental-specific, tissue-specific or cell-type-specific manner and exert precise control over gene expression. Reductions in cost and improvements in the accuracy of high-throughput RNA sequencing have led to the identification of many new small RNA species. In this Review, we provide a broad discussion of the genomic origins, biogenesis and functions of structural small RNAs, including tRNAs, small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs), small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs), vault RNAs (vtRNAs) and Y RNAs as well as their derived RNA fragments, and of regulatory small RNAs, such as microRNAs (miRNAs), endogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), in animals. Many new small RNA species and their derived fragments have been recently identified in animals. This Review discusses the biogenesis and functions of both structural small RNAs, such as tRNAs and small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs), and of regulatory small RNAs such as microRNAs and PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs).","PeriodicalId":19051,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology","volume":"26 5","pages":"347-370"},"PeriodicalIF":81.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143030728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sequencing technologies to measure translation in single cells","authors":"Michael VanInsberghe, Alexander van Oudenaarden","doi":"10.1038/s41580-024-00822-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41580-024-00822-z","url":null,"abstract":"Translation is one of the most energy-intensive processes in a cell and, accordingly, is tightly regulated. Genome-wide methods to measure translation and the translatome and to study the complex regulation of protein synthesis have enabled unprecedented characterization of this crucial step of gene expression. However, technological limitations have hampered our understanding of translation control in multicellular tissues, rare cell types and dynamic cellular processes. Recent optimizations, adaptations and new techniques have enabled these measurements to be made at single-cell resolution. In this Progress, we discuss single-cell sequencing technologies to measure translation, including ribosome profiling, ribosome affinity purification and spatial translatome methods. Recent sequencing-based methods, including novel ribosome profiling, ribosome affinity purification and spatial translation methods, have enabled the measurement of translation at single-cell resolution. These developments have opened avenues for studying translation regulation in tissues and rare cell types.","PeriodicalId":19051,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology","volume":"26 5","pages":"337-346"},"PeriodicalIF":81.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142989980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Proteins that assemble co-translationally lean on their partner for stability","authors":"Kim Baumann","doi":"10.1038/s41580-024-00824-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41580-024-00824-x","url":null,"abstract":"This study provides a framework to predict whether protein complexes assemble co- or post-translationally based solely on protein structures.","PeriodicalId":19051,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology","volume":"26 2","pages":"85-85"},"PeriodicalIF":81.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142934993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Genome characteristics at the borders","authors":"Marina Lusic","doi":"10.1038/s41580-024-00819-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41580-024-00819-8","url":null,"abstract":"Marina Lusic recounts seminal papers that showed that nuclear pore complexes and association with the nuclear lamina can shape borders between genomic domains and gene regulation.","PeriodicalId":19051,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology","volume":"26 3","pages":"171-171"},"PeriodicalIF":81.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142929710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Thomas Mortimer, Jacob G. Smith, Pura Muñoz-Cánoves, Salvador Aznar Benitah
{"title":"Circadian clock communication during homeostasis and ageing","authors":"Thomas Mortimer, Jacob G. Smith, Pura Muñoz-Cánoves, Salvador Aznar Benitah","doi":"10.1038/s41580-024-00802-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41580-024-00802-3","url":null,"abstract":"Maintaining homeostasis is essential for continued health, and the progressive decay of homeostatic processes is a hallmark of ageing. Daily environmental rhythms threaten homeostasis, and circadian clocks have evolved to execute physiological processes in a manner that anticipates, and thus mitigates, their effects on the organism. Clocks are active in almost all cell types; their rhythmicity and functional output are determined by a combination of tissue-intrinsic and systemic inputs. Numerous inputs for a specific tissue are produced by the activity of circadian clocks of other tissues or cell types, generating a form of crosstalk known as clock communication. In mammals, the central clock in the hypothalamus integrates signals from external light–dark cycles to align peripheral clocks elsewhere in the body. This regulation is complemented by a tissue-specific milieu of external, systemic and niche inputs that modulate and cooperate with the cellular circadian clock machinery of a tissue to tailor its functional output. These mechanisms of clock communication decay during ageing, and growing evidence suggests that this decline might drive ageing-related morbidities. Dietary, behavioural and pharmacological interventions may offer the possibility to overcome these changes and in turn improve healthspan. Communication between the circadian clocks of different cell and tissue types supports the daily rhythms of homeostatic processes that maintain bodily health. Ageing leads to a decline in this complex communication network to the detriment of these daily homeostatic rhythms. This Review discusses clock communication pathways in the healthy versus aged state and explores the potential of modulating these communication pathways to slow circadian rhythm decline with ageing.","PeriodicalId":19051,"journal":{"name":"Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology","volume":"26 4","pages":"314-331"},"PeriodicalIF":81.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142916955","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}