Cover image for "The microtubule GTP-tubulin cap size is modulated during cell division" by Anna Cassidy! I know it says "May 1, 2026", but it is already online so here it is!
www.molbiolcell.org/doi/10.1091/...
The Burnette lab did well last year in the Nikon Small World microscopy contest indeed! All three of our entries made it to the top 20!
A cell videoed through a microscope. DNA in the nucleus (cyan), mitochondria (yellow), and the actin filament cytoskeleton (magenta) are shown. #CellBiology
A cell going through cell division to create two daughter cells videoed through a spinning disk confocal microscope. DNA (red), Golgi apparatus (green), actin filaments (blue) are shown. #CellBiology
A cancer cell videoed through a microscope. It has 3 nuclei (magenta). The powerhouse/overlords of the cell, mitochondria, are also shown (green). #CellBiology
Are there still Zoom-based scientific seminar series? As I plan for a promotion cycle that expects ~10 invited talks/year. I love giving talks and talking with interesting scientists, just not the travel part. I study the growth and function of the heart and large extracellular vesicles.
Two cells isolated from a fish scale videoed through a DIC microscope. The cells are cool but now all I see are extracellular vesicles floating by in the media and stuck to the substrate....... #CellBiology
This is not a dispute over nomenclature. The authors of the zombosome paper misrepresented our published data to justify introducing a new name. Whether intentional or unintentional, this misrepresentation should have not made it past peer review.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
They renamed blebbisomes. The authors claimed erroneously in their paper that blebbisomes are found only in cancer cells, whereas we clearly demonstrated that blebbisomes are produced by normal cells. The structures described here are simply blebbisomes generated by astrocytes.
Our Blebbisome paper has been out for a year and has 50 citations! To celebrate, here is Video 5 from the paper: fibroblasts (green arrows) and their blebbisomes (magenta arrowheads) hanging out. #CellBiology #microscopy
See the paper here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
CELL BODY MICROTUBULES
Among other things, microtubules are the tracks used by cells to traffic membranes (e.g., next to the nucleus where the #Golgi resides). It takes super-resolution microscopy to resolve and study this complex microtubule-network (image).
#CellBiology
"The microtubule GTP-tubulin cap size is modulated during cell division" is now available on @biorxivpreprint! This video by Anna Cassidy shows the tips of growing microtubules (EB1) and DNA (histone 2B) during metaphase. #Cellbiology
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
This is who runs this account
Dying colon cancer cells videoed through a microscope. #CellBiology
An iPSC-cardiac myocyte (heart muscle cell) surrounded by cardiac myocyte-derived small extracellular vesicles (tiny dots; AKA cardiosomes) and two cardiac myocyte-derived large extracellular vesicles (thankfully just called that; I love descriptive names). #CellBiology
The authors of the "zombosome" paper should have read our blebbisome paper. We showed that blebbisomes do not just come from cancer cells, they are also made by fibroblasts and can be isolated from wild type mice. It is a general cellular phenomenon. #CellBiology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It is cool though how they sometimes keep some of the morphology of the parental astrocytes, at least on glass. On the cells they look just like blebbisomes.
Wow! Someone is already trying to rename blebbisomes! That took less than a year!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A cell undergoing cell division photographed through a microscope. #CellBiology
A cell dividing into two daughter cells videoed through a microscope. Chromosomes are labeled in pink. Technique: differential interference microscopy (DIC) and fluorescence. #CellBiology
The increased size and force after α-actinin-4 depletion tracks with upregulation of hypertrophy genes, but not genes linked to HCM. Indeed, our quantitative genomics indicated α-actinin-4 depletion may be protective against HCM in humans. #CellBiology
Paper link: ahajrnls.org/4peXHYp
When we deplete α-actinin-4 in iPSC-cardiac myocytes, the cells don’t get lazy—they get bigger and generate significantly more force during contraction (traction force microscopy). Crucially: no increase at rest. #CellBiology
Paper link: ahajrnls.org/4peXHYp
We found that α-actinin-4 isn’t just a “nonmuscle” bystander. It localizes to the Z-discs cardiac myocytes, right alongside α-actinin-2 . Even better: ACTN2 and ACTN4 can bind each other and form a heterodimer. #CellBiology
Paper link: ahajrnls.org/4peXHYp
Below are some brief highlights from our recent paper, “Nonmuscle α-Actinin-4 Couples Sarcomere Function to Cardiac Remodeling”. The cover shows iPSC-cardiac myocytes photographed through a microscope by Dr. James Hayes. #CellBiology
Paper link: ahajrnls.org/4peXHYp
Check out this editorial in Circulation Research by Dr. Marie-Louise Bang about our paper on alpha-actinin-4 in the cardiac Z-disc. It both summarizes our findings really well (image gives a taste of it; there is more) and lays out future directions.
www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/...
Did you know that human cardiomyopathy drugs targeting beta myosin II can be used in zebrafish embryos to study heart development? Beta myosin II is only in the ventricle (v) allowing tuning up or down of ventricular contractility. #CellBiology
www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/...
A few examples can be found here:
elifesciences.org/articles/42144
elifesciences.org/articles/87065
Sure, there is that one study where the authors claimed that CRISPR deleting beta myosin II in iPSC-derived cardiac myocytes stopped sarcomere assembly, but, as we have pointed out previously, we have not been able to repeat multiple experiments in that paper. #CellBiology
This work is significant because evidence from both our lab and others suggest that removing beta myosin II (depletion or deletion) does not stop sarcomere assembly. But if beta myosin II is present in a cell, it is quite important. #CellBiology
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Burnette Lab paper: "Pharmacological Inhibition of β Myosin II Disrupts Sarcomere Assembly in Human iPSC-Derived Cardiac Myocytes" is out! This image is of beta myosin II filaments in an iPSC-derived cardiac myocyte. #CellBiology
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
