MARK2 regulates directed cell migration through modulation of myosin II contractility and focal adhesion organization.

Cancer cell migration during metastasis is mediated by a highly polarized cytoskeleton. MARK2 and its invertebrate homolog Par1B are kinases that regulate the microtubule cytoskeleton to mediate polarization of neurons in mammals and embryos in invertebrates. However, the role of MARK2 in cancer cell migration is unclear.

Crosstalk between myosin II and formin functions in the regulation of force generation and actomyosin dynamics in stress fibers.

REF52 fibroblasts have a well-developed contractile machinery, the most prominent elements of which are actomyosin stress fibers with highly ordered organization of actin and myosin IIA filaments. The relationship between contractile activity and turnover dynamics of stress fibers is not sufficiently understood. Here, we simultaneously measured the forces exerted by stress fibers (using traction force microscopy or micropillar array sensors) and the dynamics of actin and myosin (using photoconversion-based monitoring of actin incorporation and high-resolution fluorescence microscopy of myosin II light chain).

The formin inhibitor SMIFH2 inhibits members of the myosin superfamily.

The small molecular inhibitor of formin FH2 domains, SMIFH2, is widely used in cell biological studies. It inhibits formin-driven actin polymerization in vitro, but not polymerization of pure actin. It is active against several types of formin from different species.

Publisher Correction: A mechano-signalling network linking microtubules, myosin IIA filaments and integrin-based adhesions.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

A mechano-signalling network linking microtubules, myosin IIA filaments and integrin-based adhesions.

The interrelationship between microtubules and the actin cytoskeleton in mechanoregulation of integrin-mediated adhesions is poorly understood. Here, we show that the effects of microtubules on two major types of cell-matrix adhesion, focal adhesions and podosomes, are mediated by KANK family proteins connecting the adhesion protein talin with microtubule tips. Both total microtubule disruption and microtubule uncoupling from adhesions by manipulations with KANKs trigger a massive assembly of myosin IIA filaments, augmenting focal adhesions and disrupting podosomes.

Cortical forces and CDC-42 control clustering of PAR proteins for Caenorhabditis elegans embryonic polarization.

Cell polarization enables zygotes to acquire spatial asymmetry, which in turn patterns cellular and tissue axes during development. Local modification in the actomyosin cytoskeleton mediates spatial segregation of partitioning-defective (PAR) proteins at the cortex, but how mechanical changes in the cytoskeleton are transmitted to PAR proteins remains elusive. Here we uncover a role of actomyosin contractility in the remodelling of PAR proteins through cortical clustering.

Music Improves Subjective Feelings Leading to Cardiac Autonomic Nervous Modulation: A Pilot Study.

It is widely accepted that listening to music improves subjective feelings and reduces fatigue sensations, and different kinds of music lead to different activations of these feelings. Recently, cardiac autonomic nervous modulation has been proposed as a useful objective indicator of fatigue. However, scientific considerations of the relation between feelings of fatigue and cardiac autonomic nervous modulation while listening to music are still lacking.

Extracting microtubule networks from superresolution single-molecule localization microscopy data.

Microtubule filaments form ubiquitous networks that specify spatial organization in cells. However, quantitative analysis of microtubule networks is hampered by their complex architecture, limiting insights into the interplay between their organization and cellular functions. Although superresolution microscopy has greatly facilitated high-resolution imaging of microtubule filaments, extraction of complete filament networks from such data sets is challenging.

Effects of 3-h hypothermia after neonatal hyperthermic hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in rat models on behavioral prognosis and anatomical and histological features after growth.

Objective: To clarify the effects of 3-h hypothermia on learning ability and motor function after growth, employing neonatal rat models with hyperthermic hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).

Methods: We divided all rats into three groups: N (adult rats after neonatal hyperthermic HIE without subsequent 3-h hypothermia), H (adult rats after neonatal hyperthermic HIE with subsequent 3-h hypothermia) and Sham (S) groups. We evaluated their malfunctions with the rota-rod test and the step-down passive avoidance test.

Automated screening of microtubule growth dynamics identifies MARK2 as a regulator of leading edge microtubules downstream of Rac1 in migrating cells.

Polarized microtubule (MT) growth in the leading edge is critical to directed cell migration, and is mediated by Rac1 GTPase. To find downstream targets of Rac1 that affect MT assembly dynamics, we performed an RNAi screen of 23 MT binding and regulatory factors and identified RNAi treatments that suppressed changes in MT dynamics induced by constitutively activated Rac1. By analyzing fluorescent EB3 dynamics with automated tracking, we found that RNAi treatments targeting p150(glued), APC2, spastin, EB1, Op18, or MARK2 blocked Rac1-mediated MT growth in lamellipodia.

Effects of a heat- and steam-generating sheet on relieving symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea in young women.

Aim: To test the efficacy of heat- and steam-generating (HSG) sheets for the relief of symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea in young women.

Materials & Methods: Thirty-four female university students were enrolled in this study. HSG sheets generate moist heat to keep the attached body area at 38.

Centralspindlin regulates ECT2 and RhoA accumulation at the equatorial cortex during cytokinesis.

During determination of the cell division plane, an actomyosin contractile ring is induced at the equatorial cell cortex by signals from the mitotic apparatus and contracts to cause cleavage furrow progression. Although the small GTPase RhoA is known to regulate the progression, probably by controlling actin filament assembly and enhancing actomyosin interaction, any involvement of RhoA in division plane determination is unknown. In this study, using a trichloroacetic acid (TCA) fixation protocol we recently developed, we show that RhoA accumulates at the equatorial cortex before furrow initiation and continues to concentrate at the cleavage furrow during cytokinesis.

Rho localization in cells and tissues.

Rho family small GTPases regulate cytoskeletal organization. Although their spatiotemporal activities appear to be important for cellular morphogenesis, there has been little characterization of the localization of Rho family GTPases in cells and tissues. Here we show precise localization of Rho subfamily proteins in mammalian cultured cells and tissues through evaluation of anti-Rho antibodies and fixation protocols.

An IQGAP-like protein is involved in actin assembly together with Cdc42 in the sea urchin egg.

We isolated a gene homologous to human cdc42 (ucdc42) from a sea urchin cDNA library. The GTPgammaS-bound UCdc42 induced actin assembly in sea urchin egg extract. Proteins that are involved in this actin assembly system were searched using UCdc42-bound agarose beads.