Journal of Cell Science Special Issue: Cell and Tissue Polarity

Posted by Helen Zenner, on 18 March 2024

The Journal of Cell Science Special Issue on Cell and Tissue Polarity is now complete. The original research in this Issue, guest edited by David Bryant, covers many aspects of cell polarity, including the roles of both the cytoskeleton and junctions in polarity establishment and maintenance, polarised membrane trafficking, cell division and collective cell migration. You can read David’s Editorial here: https://journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/137/5/jcs262000/344167/Special-Issue-Cell-and-Tissue-Polarity

One thing that all the articles have in common is microscopy. The techniques adopted in this research include confocal, STED, expansion microscopy, FRAP, TIRF, SIM, spinning disc and TEM. Many of the papers also include detailed image analysis workflows, and I’ve highlighted a few of my favourites below.

Integrin-based adhesions promote cell–cell junction and cytoskeletal remodelling to drive embryonic wound healing
Michelle Ly, Clara Schimmer, Raymond Hawkins, Katheryn E. Rothenberg, Rodrigo Fernandez-Gonzalez

Fat2 polarizes Lar and Sema5c to coordinate the motility of collectively migrating epithelial cells
Audrey Miller Williams, Sally Horne-Badovinac

Interplay between the plasma membrane and cell–cell adhesion maintains epithelial identity for correct polarised cell divisions
Manal M. Hosawi, Jiaoqi Cheng, Maria Fankhaenel, Marcin R. Przewloka, Salah Elias

In addition to all this exciting science, 21 trees were planted in The Forest of Biologists, on behalf of the authors of articles in our Special Issue, while ancient woodland in the Lake District, UK was preserved on behalf of the peer reviewers of this research.

The next Journal of Cell Science Special Issue is on Imaging Cell Architecture and Dynamics, and it is being guest edited by Lucy Collinson and Guillaume Jacquemet. The extended deadline for submitting research articles is 29 March, 2024.