Dec 19, 2016
How NK cells avoid collateral damage
Before secreting their lytic granules to kill transformed or virally infected cells, natural killer cells converge these lysosome-related organelles around the microtubule-organizing center. Hsu et al. reveal that, by promoting the granules' directed secretion at the immunological...
Nov 21, 2016
Formin’ arcs at the immunological synapse
When a T cell encounters an antigen-presenting cell, it dramatically reorganizes its cytoskeleton to form a specialized contact site called the immunological synapse. Murugesan et al. use superresolution microscopy to reveal that the medial region of the synapse contains a...
Oct 24, 2016
Retinal ganglion cells have a backup plan
Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are born at the apical side of the retinal neuroepithelium before they translocate to the basal side and send out axons to form the optic nerve. Icha et al. reveal that, in the zebrafish retina, RGC translocation is expedited by basal process...
Sep 26, 2016
An iron hand controls endosome-mitochondria contacts
In erythroid cells, endocytosed iron is directly transferred into mitochondria at dynamic endosome-mitochondria contacts. Das et al. reveal that this process also occurs in epithelial cells, and that the motility of endosomes, and the duration of their interactions...
Aug 29, 2016
Septins step in to promote macropinosome fusion
After they are formed by the closure of membrane ruffles, macropinosomes mature by fusing with each other and with endosomes, before eventually delivering their fluid phase cargo to lysosomes. Dolat and Spiliotis reveal that septin filaments promote macropinosome...