The characteristic cerebral plaques of Alzheimer disease (AD) are primarily composed of an aggregation-prone 39-43residue peptide called amyloid (A ), which is a proteolytic product derived from the amyloid precursor protein (APP), a type I integral membrane protein (Hardy and Selkoe, 2002). The discovery of the APP gene was followed by the identification of missense mutations associated with f...

Endothelium-derived nitric oxide (NO) is a critical regulator of cardiovascular homeostasis. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS or NOS3)-derived NO is an endogenous vasodilatory gas that continually regulates the diameter of blood vessels and maintains an anti-proliferative and anti-apoptotic environment in the vessel wall. Initially thought to be a simple, calmodulin (CaM) regulated enzym...

Melanocytes are pigment-producing cells that originate from the dorsal portions of the closing neural tube in vertebrate embryos (Fig. 70-1). 1 They derive from pluripotent neural crest cells that differentiate into numerous cell lineages, including neurons, glia, smooth muscle, craniofacial bone, cartilage, and melanocytes (reviewed in refs. 2 and 3). Progenitor melanoblasts migrate dorsolater...

ALBANY | New York state, in collaboration with several other states and Columbia University, is reviving an advisory committee on climate change that President Donald Trump’s administration disbanded. The move is aimed at helping local governments prepare for global warming. The federal advisory committee had been slated to provide guidance based on scientific findings of the latest National Cl...

Stephens, 2010). At the same time attention has also shifted to many other aspects of adipocyte development, including efforts to identify, isolate and manipulate relevant precursor stem cells. Recent studies have revealed new intracellular pathways, processes and secreted factors that can influence the decision of these cells to become adipocytes. Understanding the intricacies of adipogenesis ...

Cellular senescence is a stable proliferation arrest that is associated with extensive cellular remodelling and an altered secretory pathway. Through its numerous inducers that lead to altered gene expression, senescence is able to influence many contrasting functions and pathologies, namely tumour suppression, tumour promotion, wound healing and ageing. As senescence is able to control such im...

The myelin sheath is a plasma membrane extension that is laid down in regularly spaced segments along axons of the nervous system. This process involves extensive changes in oligodendrocyte cell shape and membrane architecture. In this Cell Science at a Glance article and accompanying poster, we provide a model of how myelin of the central nervous system is wrapped around axons to form a tightl...

Since its discovery in 1997 (Li and Sun, 1997; Li et al., 1997; Steck et al., 1997), the phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate [PtdIns(3,4,5)P3] phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) has been established as one of the most frequently mutated tumor suppressor genes in human cancer. PTEN is a phosphatase that catalyzes the conversion of the lipid second messenger PtdIns (3,4,5)P3 to phosphat...

Journal of Cell Science 123, 4000 © 2010. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd doi:10.1242/jcs.082667doi:10. There was an error published in J. Cell Sci. 123, 3420-3423. We misprinted the sentence in the acknowledgements that states the American Heart Association (AHA) as the funding body supporting F. Jon Kull. The correct sentence is given below: The authors’ research on kinesins is sup...