cells

The mechanism responsible for generating part of the skeletal support for the membrane in animal cells is not yet clearly understood. Now, Jean-François Joanny from the Physico Chemistry Curie Unit at the Curie Institute in Paris and colleagues have found that a well-defined layer beneath the cell outer membrane forms beyond a certain critical level of stress generated by motor proteins within the cellular system. These findings, which offer a new understanding of the formation of this so-called cortical layer, have just been published in EPJ E.

 For organisms to develop and grow, asymmetry is essential. New research from Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists reveals how a localized source of a signaling molecule directs a dividing stem cell to produce two different cells—one identical to its parent, the other a more specialized cell type—and aligns those cells. In a developing tissue, such oriented divisions will position cells to migrate to the right place to ensure the right architecture.