Ten simple rules for students navigating summer research experiences for undergraduates (REU) programs: From application to program completion.

For many emerging scientists, research experiences for undergraduates (REU) programs are an important gateway to graduate school and a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). REUs provide guided mentorship and learning experiences in a summer-long program where students develop research skills, build scientific knowledge, and strengthen their scientific identity. While the benefits of REUs are abundant, the process is not always easy to navigate, especially for students who come from first-generation and/or low-income (FLI) backgrounds.

Postmitotic centriole disengagement and maturation leads to centrosome amplification in polyploid trophoblast giant cells.

DNA replication is normally coupled with centriole duplication in the cell cycle. Trophoblast giant cells (TGCs) of the placenta undergo endocycles resulting in polyploidy but their centriole state is not known. We used a cell culture model for TGC differentiation to examine centriole and centrosome number and properties.

Cyclin-dependent kinase control of motile ciliogenesis.

Cycling cells maintain centriole number at precisely two per cell in part by limiting their duplication to S phase under the control of the cell cycle machinery. In contrast, postmitotic multiciliated cells (MCCs) uncouple centriole assembly from cell cycle progression and produce hundreds of centrioles in the absence of DNA replication to serve as basal bodies for motile cilia. Although some cell cycle regulators have previously been implicated in motile ciliogenesis, how the cell cycle machinery is employed to amplify centrioles is unclear.