Background Trichoplax adhaerens is the best-known member of the phylum Placozoa, one
of the earliest-diverging metazoan phyla. It is a small disk-shaped animal that glides on …

How metazoan mechanotransduction channels sense mechanical stimuli is not well
understood. The NOMPC channel in the transient receptor potential (TRP) family, a …

Mutations in the Tar DNA binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43; TARDBP) are associated with
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 + …

A fundamental breakthrough in neurobiology has been the formulation of the neuron doctrine
by Santiago Ramón y Cajal, which stated that the nervous system is composed of discrete …

The cytoskeleton is an early attribute of cellular life, and its main components are composed
of conserved proteins. The actin cytoskeleton has a direct impact on the control of cell size …

Ctenophores are gelatinous marine animals famous for locomotion by ciliary combs. Due to
the uncertainties of the phylogenetic placement of ctenophores and the absence of some …

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a highly dynamic polygonal membrane network composed
of interconnected tubules and sheets (cisternae) that forms the first compartment in the …

Synaptic vesicle (SV) release is spatially and temporally regulated by a network of proteins
that form the presynaptic active zone (AZ). The hallmark of most AZs is an electron-dense …

Protein storage vacuoles (PSV) are the main repository of protein in dicotyledonous seeds,
but little is known about the origins of these transient organelles. PSV are hypothesized to …

Serial block face imaging with the scanning electron microscope has been developed as an
alternative to serial sectioning and transmission electron microscopy for the ultrastructural …