Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Cell biology is the discipline of biological sciences that studies the structure, physiology, growth, reproduction and death of cells. Research in cell biology uses microscopic and molecular tools and examines all cell types, from unicellular organisms such as protozoa to the specialised cells that consitutute multicellular organisms.
Ferroptosis, a cell death mechanism induced by lipid peroxidation, is pivotal in tumor suppression. A recent study shows that tumor repopulating cells evade ferroptosis and develop resistance to therapy via subverting a lipid metabolism enzyme.
Stabilization of a branch structure would intuitively suggest a direct connection between trunk and bough, but in actin filament networks, cortactin clamps the branching Arp2/3 complex to the daughter filament. This has fundamental consequences for mechanistic understanding of actin branch turnover and cortactin biology.
Two new landmark studies use innovative and complementary lineage tracing approaches in human cerebral organoids to reveal symmetric stem cell division and direct neurogenesis of basal radial glial cells to enable cortical growth, expansion and differentiation.
The F-box domain is a conserved structural motif in ubiquitin ligases known only to bind Skp1. Here, the authors show the F-box domain is also an environmental cadmium sensor that changes conformation upon binding to disassemble the active ligase, protecting the cell from cadmium stress.
The heterochromatic 'condensates' may not be conserved across mammals. This study highlights the influence of host genome on nuclear architecture and challenges the hypothesis that heterochromatin and MeCP2 undergo phase separation.
Multiplexed imaging to study cellular pathways can be hampered by lack of antibody specificity, especially when assessing signal activation. Here, the authors present Precise Emission Canceling Antibodies (PECAbs), which enable high-specificity sequential imaging and the study of signaling pathways.
Phosphorylation of ACSL4 by mitochondria-located metabolic kinase PCK2 is critical to regulating ferroptosis-associated phospholipid remodeling in tumor-repopulating cells that are resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Ferroptosis, a cell death mechanism induced by lipid peroxidation, is pivotal in tumor suppression. A recent study shows that tumor repopulating cells evade ferroptosis and develop resistance to therapy via subverting a lipid metabolism enzyme.
Stabilization of a branch structure would intuitively suggest a direct connection between trunk and bough, but in actin filament networks, cortactin clamps the branching Arp2/3 complex to the daughter filament. This has fundamental consequences for mechanistic understanding of actin branch turnover and cortactin biology.
Two new landmark studies use innovative and complementary lineage tracing approaches in human cerebral organoids to reveal symmetric stem cell division and direct neurogenesis of basal radial glial cells to enable cortical growth, expansion and differentiation.
Claire Durrant reminds us of the importance of studying the physiological roles of proteins and their aggregates to understand their roles in disease and inform therapies, discussing a 2008 paper on amyloid-Ī² from the Arancio lab.
Organelles called mitochondria are transferred to blood-vessel-forming cells by support cells. Unexpectedly, these mitochondria are degraded, kick-starting the production of new ones and boosting vessel formation.