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How catastrophes help oocytes avoid disaster

During meiosis, oocytes must attach homologous chromosomes to opposite spindle poles, but the cells take several hours to assemble a bipolar spindle. Gluszek et al. reveal that, in Drosophila oocytes, the microtubule catastrophe–promoting protein Sentin delays the formation of stable kinetochore–microtubule attachments until spindle assembly is complete, thereby preventing homologous chromosomes from incorrectly attaching to the same spindle pole. This biosights episode presents the paper by Głuszek et al. from the December 21st, 2015, issue of The Journal of Cell Biology and includes an interview with the paper's senior author, Hiroyuki Ohkura (University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK). Produced by Caitlin Sedwick and Ben Short. See the associated paper in JCB for details on the funding provided to support this original research.

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Endocytosis brings closure to epithelial wounds

Epithelial cells bordering a wound respond by forming two types of actin-based structure: dynamic membrane protrusions that help the cells crawl into the wound and/or seal it and an actomyosin cable that encircles the wound and closes it like a purse string. Matsubayashi et al. reveal that the endocytic remodeling of intercellular adherens junctions promotes Drosophila epidermal wound healing by coordinating the activity of multiple actin regulators at the wound edge. This biosights episode presents the paper by Matsubayashi et al. from the August 3rd, 2015, issue of The Journal of Cell Biology and includes an interview with the paper's senior author, Tom Millard (University of Manchester, Manchester, UK). Produced by Caitlin Sedwick and Ben Short. See the associated paper in JCB for details on the funding provided to support this original research.

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Interphase centrosomes flare up

Centrosomes undergo dramatic changes in size and structure during the rapid cell cycles of early Drosophila embryos. Lerit et al. reveal that a scaffold formed by the proteins centrosomin and PLP is required to maintain the activity of interphase centrosomes, which is essential for nuclear spacing and proper chromosome segregation. This biosights episode presents the paper by Lerit et al. from the July 6th, 2015, issue of The Journal of Cell Biology and includes an interview with two of the paper's authors, Dorothy Lerit and Nasser Rusan (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD). Produced by Caitlin Sedwick and Ben Short. See the associated paper in JCB for details on the funding provided to support this original research.

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