{"title":"Huntingtin as an Actin Organizer: Structural and Functional Insights.","authors":"M Capizzi, S Humbert","doi":"10.1002/cm.70143","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/cm.70143","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72766,"journal":{"name":"Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.)","volume":" ","pages":"e70143"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147824287","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Denise Bonente, Marco Gottardo, David Mercati, Maria Giovanna Riparbelli, Romano Dallai, Giuliano Callaini
{"title":"Stick Insect Sperm (Phasmatodea) With Mammalian-Like Basal Bodies.","authors":"Denise Bonente, Marco Gottardo, David Mercati, Maria Giovanna Riparbelli, Romano Dallai, Giuliano Callaini","doi":"10.1002/cm.70141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/cm.70141","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Stick insect sperm exhibit a remarkable modification of the basal body, characterized by the expansion of the proximal region and the incorporation of amorphous, unstructured material. This atypical architecture parallels transformations observed in mammalian sperm, where the distal centriole transitions into splayed microtubules of variable length. Despite their structural irregularity, these modified centrioles enable zygotic centrosome formation, likely relying on a large permissive recruitment domain of specific proteins. Therefore, atypical centrioles may represent a sort of assembly platform, rather than providing a defined basal scaffold as observed in other systems. Basal stick insects possess canonical cylindrical centrioles, whereas higher stick insects show increasing basal body complexity. This trend mirrors mammalian sperm evolution, suggesting structural parallels of the basal bodies, presumably enhancing mechanical support to the sperm neck during flagellar motion.</p>","PeriodicalId":72766,"journal":{"name":"Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.)","volume":" ","pages":"e70141"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147790761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Diurnal Regulation of Flagellar Length and Swimming Speed in the Red-Tide Raphidophyte Chattonella marina.","authors":"Yusaku Fujita, Azusa Kage, Takayuki Nishizaka","doi":"10.1002/cm.70140","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/cm.70140","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The raphidophyte Chattonella marina is a harmful algal bloom (HAB) species known for its distinct diurnal vertical migration (DVM), a behavior important for its survival and bloom formation. However, the single-cell mechanisms governing this migration remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the swimming characteristics of individual C. marina cells during day (light) and night (dark) periods. We observed a strong positive correlation between the length of the propulsive anterior flagellum and the cell's swimming speed. We discovered that the length distribution of the anterior flagellum is different during the day and at night. We also found that the beat frequency of the anterior flagellum was significantly higher during the day compared to the night. This resulted in faster mean swimming speeds during the light period. To investigate the mechanism of length regulation, we tested the role of intraflagellar transport (IFT) using the IFT dynein inhibitor, ciliobrevin D. Treatment with ciliobrevin D induced a time- and concentration-dependent shortening of the anterior flagellum. This is the first pharmacological evidence to suggest that an IFT-like mechanism may actively control motile flagellar length in C. marina. These findings suggest that C. marina modulates its swimming speed through diurnal changes in both flagellar length and beat frequency, likely as an energy-saving strategy coupled to its DVM.</p>","PeriodicalId":72766,"journal":{"name":"Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.)","volume":" ","pages":"e70140"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147790778","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Introduction to the Special Issue \"Plant Cytoskeleton: Discovering the Cellular Dynamicity From Model Organisms to Crop Plants\".","authors":"M Arif Ashraf, Tomokazu Kawashima","doi":"10.1002/cm.70135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/cm.70135","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72766,"journal":{"name":"Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147629389","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aditi Srivastava, Tanveer Ahamad, Aqib Sarfraz, Sahabjada Siddiqui, Feroz Khan, Anchal Trivedi, Mohd Faheem Khan, Aparna Misra, Hari Shankar, Mohsin Ali Khan, Rumana Ahmad
{"title":"Apoptosis Induction, Disruption of Cytoskeleton Remodeling and EMT Inhibition as Major Mechanism(s) Underlying the Pleiotropic Action of Withania somnifera in Breast Cancer.","authors":"Aditi Srivastava, Tanveer Ahamad, Aqib Sarfraz, Sahabjada Siddiqui, Feroz Khan, Anchal Trivedi, Mohd Faheem Khan, Aparna Misra, Hari Shankar, Mohsin Ali Khan, Rumana Ahmad","doi":"10.1002/cm.70131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/cm.70131","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The role of actin and its binding proteins has been discovered in cytoskeleton remodeling as well as in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) of metastatic cells and apoptosis. Even minor changes in the biomolecular structure of actin and its ABPs (by binding of ligands) can lead to drastic changes in the cytoskeleton with far reaching effects per se. Agents targeting actin can, thus, be viewed as potential anti-metastatic agents. The effect of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (WS) on the cytoskeleton has remained relatively unexplored. The present study highlights the interaction between 20 WS phytoconstituents and 10 selected cytoskeletal proteins in silico with a view to validate and analyze the perturbation in growth and differentiation of breast cancer cells in vitro. Pharmacokinetic analyses revealed that the majority of WS phytoconstituents exhibited no violations of Lipinski's rule-of-five parameters. Withanolides A, B, D, M and O displayed the greatest binding affinity particularly for coronin1A, vimentin, gelsolin, ezrin and F-actin. MD simulations of 100 ns revealed maximum stable interaction(s) between Coronin-Viscosalactone B (VISCB) and Vimentin-Withanolide E (WITHE). The prepared methanolic extract of WS stem (WSME), characterized using LC-MS, revealed the presence of Withaferin A (WFA). Both WSME and WFA exhibited potent cytotoxicity against breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells. WSME increased ROS levels, arrested the cell cycle in S and G2-M phases, decreased the expression of mesenchymal markers, namely, vimentin, N-cadherin and increased levels of the epithelial marker E-cadherin in treated MDA-MB-231 cells. These findings suggest that VISCB, WITHE, and WFA have the potential to emerge as potential antimetastatic agents against breast cancer in the future.</p>","PeriodicalId":72766,"journal":{"name":"Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147629320","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lili Mitchell, Kathryn E Reda, Hijab Fatima, Claudia E Vasquez, Omar A Quintero-Carmona
{"title":"The C-Terminal Regions of TRAK Proteins Contain MIRO-Independent Mitochondrial Localization Domains.","authors":"Lili Mitchell, Kathryn E Reda, Hijab Fatima, Claudia E Vasquez, Omar A Quintero-Carmona","doi":"10.1002/cm.70061","DOIUrl":"10.1002/cm.70061","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Current models suggest that MIRO GTPases anchor cytoskeletal motors to the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM). However, our previous findings indicate that the unconventional myosin, MYO19, interacts with MIRO weakly and that a MIRO-independent MOM-localizing domain interacts more tightly with the MOM. To test the hypothesis that other MIRO interactors may also have MIRO-independent MOM binding, we examined interactions between TRAK proteins (microtubule motor-mitochondria adaptor proteins) and the MOM via quantitative fluorescence microscopy and steady-state kinetic approaches. Using GFP-TRAK truncations expressed in MIRO1-2 double knockout mouse embryonic fibroblasts, we identified a MIRO-independent mitochondrial-binding domain in the C-terminus of TRAK1 and TRAK2, with a MOM localization pattern similar to what we observed for full-length GFP-TRAK proteins. The MIRO-binding domains (MBD) of the TRAK proteins were only able to localize to mitochondria when MIRO is expressed. Importantly, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) demonstrated that the steady-state kinetics of TRAK<sup>MBD</sup>/MIRO interactions were faster exchanging than for either full-length TRAK or the TRAK C-terminal MOM-binding domain expressed alone. These data support a model where TRAK/MIRO associations may be serving functions beyond anchoring cytoskeletal motors and their adapters to the MOM.</p>","PeriodicalId":72766,"journal":{"name":"Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.)","volume":" ","pages":"187-199"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13080069/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145350411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Introduction to the Special Issue \"Cytoskeleton Regulation of Mitochondrial Dynamics\".","authors":"David Gau","doi":"10.1002/cm.70111","DOIUrl":"10.1002/cm.70111","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72766,"journal":{"name":"Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.)","volume":" ","pages":"177-178"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146222177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}