Plasma membrane potential has been linked to cell proliferation for over 40 years in vertebrate cells. In this study, we experimentally demonstrated that membrane depolarization promotes mitosis and that this process depends on the voltage-dependent ac…
The growing ability of pathogens and tumor cells to evade immune surveillance underscores the urgent need for new vaccine platforms that harness diverse biological mechanisms. Logistical constraints associated with cold-chain transport further limit va…
Ca2+ signaling in cells begins with the opening of Ca2+ channels in either the plasma membrane (PM) or endoplasmic reticulum (ER), leading to a sharp increase in the physiologically low (<100 nM) cytosolic Ca2+ level. The temporal and spatial regula…
The cohesin complex maintains sister chromatid cohesion from S phase to anaphase onset. Cohesin also plays roles in chromosome structure and DNA repair. In yeast, the cohesin subunit Scc1 is cleaved at anaphase onset to allow segregation in an orderly …
In pancreatic islet β cells, molecular motors use cytoskeletal polymers microtubules as tracks for intracellular transport of insulin secretory granules. The β-cell microtubule network has a complex architecture and is nondirectional, which provides in…
Septins can function as scaffolds for protein recruitment, membrane-bound diffusion barriers, or membrane curvature sensors. Septins are important for cytokinesis, but their exact roles are still obscure. In fission yeast, four septins (Spn1–Spn4) accu…
In many organisms, aging is a clear risk factor for chromosome missegregation, the main source of aneuploidy. Here, we report that old yeast cells lose chromosomes by partitioning them asymmetrically to their daughter cells together with the pre-existi…
Experiments on yeast show that the nuclear pore complex has a central role in the loss of chromosomes associated with aging.
Various types of glycoproteins have been suggested to inhibit viral infection of cells via steric repulsion. However, it is difficult to evaluate such physical actions genetically, simply because they are nonspecific and can be caused by any molecule. …
Three-dimensional structured illumination microscopy (3D-SIM) doubles the resolution of fluorescence imaging in all directions and enables optical sectioning with increased image contrast. However, 3D-SIM has not been widely applied to imaging deep in …