Publications by authors named "Rebecca K Stephens"
Nuclear periphery and its mechanical regulation in cell fate transitions.
Curr Opin Struct Biol
August 2024
Article Synopsis
- - Cell fate changes involve altering transcriptional programs to create specialized cell types, which is complicated by epigenetic barriers from inactive heterochromatin that must be overcome to activate specific genes.
- - Decisions about cell fate are influenced by the tissue environment, where cells interact with each other and respond to various mechanical forces from nearby cellular activities, such as movement and fluid flow.
- - The mechanical forces can affect how cells deform and signal at their membranes, leading to changes in the structure and rigidity of the nucleus and its chromatin, ultimately impacting gene transcription and influencing cell development and reprogramming.
Scribble is a critical cell polarity regulator that has been shown to work as either an oncogene or tumor suppressor in a context dependent manner, and also impacts cell migration, tissue architecture and immunity. Mutations in Scribble lead to neural tube defects in mice and humans, which has been attributed to a loss of interaction with the planar cell polarity regulator Vangl2. We show that the Scribble PDZ domains 1, 2 and 3 are able to interact with the C-terminal PDZ binding motif of Vangl2 and have now determined crystal structures of these Scribble PDZ domains bound to the Vangl2 peptide.
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