A general cytoplasmic signaling mechanism for the novel functions of diverse alpha protocadherins in cortical neuron migration and actin cytoskeletal dynamics as well as dendrite morphogenesis in the brain.
Single-particle cryo-EM and electrophysiology studies of the chloride channel TMEM16A reveals the structural basis for anion conduction and uncover its relationship to lipid scramblases of the same family.
Lamellipodin, an important regulator of cytoskeletal and assembly cell migration, enhances the activity of Ena/VASP family actin polymerases by clustering them on leading-edge membranes and tethering them to actin filaments.
The coding sequences of a very highly conserved family of neurogenic transcription factors from different species have evolved to generate proteins that have different life times causing them to display quantitatively different neural induction potentials.
Synaptophysins and gyrins dampen synaptic strength selectively at low frequencies, hinting that synaptic transmission may play a frequency filtering role in biological computation that is more general than currently envisioned.
Sponges and ctenophores lack hypoxia-inducible factors, suggesting that the metazoan last common ancestor could have lived aerobically under severe hypoxia and did not need to regulate its transcription in response to oxygen availability.
Cellular carbon accumulation systems are a fundamental prerequisite for biomineralization to stabilize pH and to supply inorganic carbon for CaCO3 precipitation under changing environmental conditions.