Transformation of a contact between axon and dendrite into a synapse is accompanied by accumulation of the synaptic machinery at this site, being delivered in intracellular organelles mainly of TGN origin. Here, we report that in cultured hippocampal neurons, TGN organelles are linked via spectrin to clusters of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) in the plasma membrane. These complexes ar...

LDs (lipid droplets) are probably the least well-characterized cellular organelles. Having long been considered simple lipid storage depots, they are now considered to be dynamic organelles involved in many biological processes. However, most of the mechanisms driving LDs biogenesis, growth and intracellular movement remain largely unknown. As for other cellular mechanisms deciphered through th...

Sociality has profound evolutionary roots and is observed from unicellular organisms to multicellular animals. In line with the view that social principles apply across levels of biological complexity, a growing body data highlights remarkable nature mitochondria – life-sustaining endosymbiotic organelles their own genome populate cell cytoplasm. Here, we draw organizing behavior in reveal simi...

We provide direct evidence that Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs (BAR) family members bend the steady state membrane architecture of organelles in intact cells. In response to inducible BAR molecular actuators, organelles exhibit distinct changes to the orientation and degree of their membrane curvature. This rapidly inducible system may offer a mechanism by which to better understand the structure-function...

Membraneless organelles are droplets in the cytosol that regulated by chemical reactions. Increasing studies suggest they internally organized. However, how these subcompartments remains elusive. Herein, we describe a complex coacervate-based model composed of two polyanions and short peptide. With reaction cycle, control affinity peptide for polyelectrolytes leading to distinct regimes inside ...

To investigate the role that myosin Va plays in axonal transport of organelles, myosin Va-associated organelle movements were monitored in living neurons using microinjected fluorescently labeled antibodies to myosin Va or expression of a green fluorescent protein-myosin Va tail construct. Myosin Va-associated organelles made rapid bi-directional movements in both normal and dilute-lethal (myos...

To identify the structures to be rapidly transported through the axons, we developed a new method to permit local cooling of mouse saphenous nerves in situ without exposing them. By this method, both anterograde and retrograde transport were successfully interrupted, while the structural integrity of the nerves was well preserved. Using radioactive tracers, anterogradely transported proteins we...

Selective autophagy must not only select the correct type of organelle, but also must discriminate between individual organelles of the same kind so that some but not all of the organelles are removed. We propose that physical clustering of autophagy receptor proteins on the organelle surface can provide an appropriate all-or-none signal for organelle degradation. We explore this proposal using...

Toxoplasma (toxoplasmosis) and Plasmodium (malaria) use unique secretory organelles for migration, cell invasion, manipulation of host cell functions, and cell egress. In particular, the apical secretory micronemes and rhoptries of apicomplexan parasites are essential for successful host infection. New findings reveal that the contents of these organelles, which are transported through the endo...