Since its discovery in 1979, the role of the p53 protein in cancer has been studied intensively (Levine and Oren, 2009). p53 is a crucial tumor suppressor, long-recognized to suppress cancer through the induction of cell-cycle-arrest or apoptosis programs in response to a plethora of different cellular stress signals. Although this model paints a seemingly simple picture, the longer that p53 is...

Desmosomes are one of four intercellular junctions present on the lateral side of neighboring polarized epithelial cells. Tight junctions and adherens junctions (AJs) are restricted to the apical domain, where they form the epithelial barrier and organize cortical actin, respectively. Desmosomes are found subjacent to the AJs and are more widely distributed along the lateral membranes. By tethe...

Introduction The discovery of protein ubiquitylation three decades ago was the beginning of our understanding of a new mechanism by which proteins are marked for assembly into macromolecular complexes or movement between cellular compartments. The finding that ubiquitylation (the covalent attachment of the small protein ubiquitin to other proteins) targeted proteins for degradation earned Avram...

Collagens are a large family of triple helical proteins that are widespread throughout the body and are important for a broad range of functions, including tissue scaffolding, cell adhesion, cell migration, cancer, angiogenesis, tissue morphogenesis and tissue repair. Collagen is best known as the principal tensile element of vertebrate tissues such as tendon, cartilage, bone and skin, where it...

Melanosomes, the pigment granules that provide tissues with colour and photoprotection, are the cellular site of synthesis, storage and transport of melanin pigments. They are synthesised in mammalian skin melanocytes, in choroidal melanocytes and retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in the eye, and in melanophores (a class of pigment-containing cells) in lower vertebrates. The precise fate a...