Dec 4, 2017
Adult neuroblasts DOCK into position
In the postnatal/adult brain, interneuron precursors, or neuroblasts, migrate along the rostral migratory stream by undergoing cycles of leading process extension followed by somal translocation. Nakamuta et al. reveal that the Rac/Cdc42 guanine nucleotide exchange factor DOCK7...
Nov 6, 2017
Cancer-associated fibroblasts lay the tracks for directional migration
Cancer-associated fibroblasts, or CAFs, regulate tumor progression by secreting chemokines and remodeling the extracellular matrix. Erdogan et al. reveal that the CAF-dependent alignment of fibronectin promotes directional cancer cell migration. This...
Oct 2, 2017
Drp1 cuts off mitophagy
Misfolded mitochondrial proteins can be eliminated by Parkin-dependent mitophagy but how this process selectively removes damaged mitochondrial regions is unclear. Burman et al. reveal that protein aggregates in the mitochondrial matrix trigger a local accumulation of Parkin on the mitochondrial...
Sep 4, 2017
Synaptic activity shifts dendritic lysosomes
Invading pathogens or other toxic agents can trigger the assembly of the inflammasome adaptor ASC into large, intracellular specks that activate caspase-1 to initiate a proinflammatory cell death called pyroptosis. Kuri et al. follow the dynamics of ASC speck formation in...
Aug 7, 2017
Synaptic activity shifts dendritic lysosomes
Lysosomes are known to exist in both the cell body and axon of neurons, but whether they also localize to dendrites is unclear. Goo et al. reveal that lysosomes do exist in dendrites and dendritic spines, and that their trafficking in this region of neurons is regulated by...