Published in Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
The regulation of the immune system is critical for the generation of effective immune responses to a range of pathogens, as well as for protection against unwanted responses. The regulation of many immune response pathways are directly dependent on the organisation and activities of intracellular endosomal compartments associated with cargo sortin...
Published in Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
During malignant transformation the cells of origin give rise to cancer stem cells which possess the capacity to undergo limitless rounds of self-renewing division, regenerating themselves while producing more tumor cells. Within normal tissues, a limitless self-renewal capacity is unique to the stem cells, which divide asymmetrically to produce mo...
Published in Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
It is now clear that apoptosis does not constitute the sole genetically encoded form of cell death. Rather, cells can spontaneously undertake or exogenously be driven into a cell death subroutine that manifests with necrotic features, yet can be inhibited by pharmacological and genetic interventions. As regulated necrosis (RN) plays a major role in...
Published in Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
The endosome system is a collection of organelles that sort membrane-associated proteins and lipids for lysosomal degradation or recycling back to their target organelle. Recycling cargo is captured in a network of membrane tubules emanating from endosomes where tubular carriers pinch off. These tubules are formed and stabilized through the scaffol...
Published in Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
Lamins A and C, encoded by LMNA, are constituent of the nuclear lamina, a meshwork of proteins underneath the nuclear envelope first described as scaffolding proteins of the nucleus. Since the discovery of LMNA mutations in highly heterogeneous human disorders (including cardiac and muscular dystrophies, lipodystrophies and progeria), the number of...
Published in Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
The embryonic surface ectoderm gives rise to the epidermis and ectodermal appendages including hair follicles, teeth, scales, feathers, and mammary, sweat, and salivary glands. Their early development proceeds largely the same through the induction, placode, and bud stages prior to diversification of epithelial morphogenesis which ultimately produc...
Published in Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
Spermatogenesis is completely dependent on the pituitary hormone follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and androgens locally produced in response to luteinising hormone (LH). This dual control has been known since the 1930s and 1940s but more recent work, particularly using transgenic mice, has allowed us to determine which parts of the spermatogenic ...
Published in Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
The stroma, which is composed of supporting cells and connective tissue, comprises a large component of the local microenvironment of many epithelial cell types, and influences several fundamental aspects of cell behaviour through both tissue interactions and niche regulation. The significance of the stroma in development and disease has been incre...
Published in Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
Ligands of the TGF-β superfamily (including the TGF-βs, Nodal and BMPs) play instructive roles during embryonic development. This is achieved by regulation of genes important for both maintaining pluripotency and germ layer specification and differentiation. Here we review how the TGF-β superfamily ligands signal to the chromatin to regulate transc...
Published in Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
Betacellulin was initially detected as a growth-promoting factor in the conditioned medium of a mouse pancreatic β-cell tumor cell line. Sequencing of the purified protein and of the cloned cDNA supported the assumption that betacellulin is a new ligand of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which was later confirmed experimentally. As a t...
