Caspases provide vital links in non-apoptotic regulatory networks controlling inflammation, compensatory proliferation, morphology and cell migration. How caspases are activated under non-apoptotic conditions and process a selective set of substrates without killing the cell remain enigmatic. Here we find that the Drosophila unconventional myosin CRINKLED (CK) selectively interacts with the ini...

Junghyun Ryu, Fernanda C. Burch, Emily Mishler, Martha Neuringer, Jon D. Hennebold and Carol Hanna. Journal of Animal Reproduction Biotechnology 2022;37:292-7. https://doi.org/10.12750/JARB.37.4.292

Atonal homolog1 (Atoh1, formerly Math1) is a crucial bHLH transcription factor for inner ear hair cell differentiation. Its absence in embryos results in complete absence of mature hair cells at birth and its misexpression can generate extra hair cells. Thus Atoh1 may be both necessary and sufficient for hair cell differentiation in the ear. Atoh1 null mice die at birth and have some undifferen...