Images of yeast cells expressing fluorescent proteins. Microtubules (part of the cytoskeleton) are shown in green and the lipid PI4P in red. The white arrows here denotes the direction of the cell growth.
When a cell is preparing to grow or replicate, it starts the way a monarch planning to expand his territory might: by identifying and marshaling the necessary resources, loading them onto the appropriate vehicles, and transporting them to the front line. For cells, that means connecting key molecules with so-called motor proteins, which are neatly equipped to recognize them and carry them to their designated positions at the intended site of growth. In research published Jan. 18 in Developmental Cell, Cornell scientists report on two molecules that work together to initiate that process in yeast cells. The research is a step toward understanding how cells orient themselves within their surroundings and, ultimately, toward finding new ways to fix the process when it goes awry. In yeast and other organisms, membrane-bound organelles known as secretory vesicles and other compartments are responsible for providing membranes needed to build another cell. In the current research, Anthony Bretscher, professor of molecular biology and genetics, graduate student Felipe Santiago-Tirado and colleagues studied how the motor protein myosin-V, which transports secretory vesicles along filaments of the cytoskeleton, recognizes and binds with its appointed cargo.
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