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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 contractile network of formin-generated actomyosin arcs that sweep T cell receptor microclusters toward the center of the synapse. This biosights episode presents the paper by Murugesan et al. from the November 7th, 2016, issue of The Journal of Cell Biology and includes an interview with the paper’s senior author, John Hammer (NHLBI, 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.

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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Fission yeast are thought to assemble their cytokinetic actomyosin rings from actin filaments nucleated at myosin-containing nodes around the cell equator. Using an improved actin-binding probe, Huang et al. find that actin cables are nucleated all over the cortex of mitotic fission yeast and are transported to the division site for incorporation into the contractile ring. This biosights episode presents the paper by Huang et al. from the November 26, 2012, issue of The Journal of Cell Biology and includes an interview with senior author Mohan Balasubramanian (Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, Singapore). 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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The Rockefeller University Press
biosights@rockefeller.edu