Buzz Baum
Cambridge
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Articles by Buzz Baum
The proteasome promotes cytokinetic abscission by relieving an Aurora B-dependent inhibition of ESCRT-III dynamics
Keywords cytokinesis mitosis cell division ESCRT proteasome Aurora B polymer membrane scission microtubule Introduction Cytokinesis requires many events that must occur in a precise order.
Balancing stability and flexibility when reshaping archaeal membranes
eLife Assessment This fundamental study characterizes the mechanics and stability of bolalipids from archaeal membranes using a minimalist, physics-based computational model. The authors present a robust mesoscale model of bolalipids-containing membranes, systematically evaluating it across diverse membrane configurations.
Stability vs flexibility: reshaping archaeal membranes in silico
Abstract Across the tree of life, distinct designs of cellular membranes have evolved. In bacteria and eukaryotes single-headed lipids self-assemble into flexible bilayer membranes. By contrast, archaea often possess double-headed, monolayer spanning bolalipids, mixed with bilayer lipids, enabling them to survive in harsh environments. Here, using a minimal computational model for bolalipid membranes, we discover trade-offs when forming membranes.
Stability vs flexibility: reshaping monolayer and bilayer archaeal membranes in silico
Abstract Across the tree of life, distinct designs of cellular membranes have evolved that are both stable and flexible. In bacteria and eukaryotes this trade-off is accomplished by single-headed lipids that self-assemble into flexible bilayer membranes. By contrast, archaea in many cases possess both bilayer and double-headed, monolayer spanning bolalipids. This composition is believed to enable extremophile archaea to survive harsh environments.
The parasitic lifestyle of an archaeal symbiont - Nature Communications
Abstract DPANN archaea are a diverse group of microorganisms characterised by small cells and reduced genomes. To date, all cultivated DPANN archaea are ectosymbionts that require direct cell contact with an archaeal host species for growth and survival. However, these interactions and their impact on the host species are poorly understood.
Where the heck did all those structures inside complex cells come from?
Enlarge / Computer illustration of mitochondria, membrane-enclosed cellular organelles that produce energy. More than 1.5 billion years ago, a momentous thing happened: Two small, primitive cells became one. Perhaps more than any event—barring the origin of life itself—this merger radically changed the course of evolution on our planet. One cell ended up inside the other and evolved into a structure that schoolkids learn to refer to as the “powerhouse of the cell”: the mitochondrion.
Where the heck did all those structures inside complex cells come from?
Scientists agree that eons ago, a bacterium took up residence inside another cell and became its powerhouse, the mitochondrion. But there are competing theories about the birth of other organelles such as the nucleus and endoplasmic reticulum. Support sound science and smart stories Help us make scientific knowledge accessible to all Donate today More than 1.5 billion years ago, a momentous thing happened: Two small, primitive cells became one.
Where the heck did all those structures inside complex cells come from?
More than 1.5 billion years ago, a momentous thing happened: Two small, primitive cells became one. Perhaps more than any event — barring the origin of life itself — this merger radically changed the course of evolution on our planet. One cell ended up inside the other and evolved into a structure that schoolkids learn to refer to as the “powerhouse of the cell”: the mitochondrion.
Where the heck did all those structures inside complex cells come from?
CREDIT: ISTOCK.COM / ARTUR PLAWGO Conceptual illustration of a eukaryotic cell. Unlike bacteria, eukaryotic cells contain membrane-bound structures that compartmentalize the cell into separate spaces that carry out different jobs. How this architecture evolved is hotly debated. Scientists agree that eons ago, a bacterium took up residence inside another cell and became its powerhouse, the mitochondrion.
Oncogenic Ras deregulates cell-substrate interactions during mitotic rounding and respreading to alter cell division orientation
New Results doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.01.12.523730 Abstract Oncogenic Ras has been shown to change the way cancer cells divide by increasing the forces generated during mitotic rounding. In this way, RasV12 enables cancer cells to divide across a wider range of mechanical environments than normal cells.
SCAR and the Arp2/3 complex polarise the actomyosin cortex and plasma membrane organization in asymmetrically dividing neuroblasts
New Results doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.01.05.522888 Abstract While the Formin-nucleated actomyosin cortex has been shown to drive the changes in cell shape that accompany cell division in both symmetric and asymmetric cell divisions, it is not clear whether or not Arp2/3-nucleated branched actin filament networks also play a role. In order to look for mitotic roles of the Arp2/3 complex, here we use Drosophila neural stem cells as a model system.
Asgard archaea shed light on the evolutionary origins of the eukaryotic ubiquitin-ESCRT machinery - Nature Communications
Abstract The ESCRT machinery, comprising of multiple proteins and subcomplexes, is crucial for membrane remodelling in eukaryotic cells, in processes that include ubiquitin-mediated multivesicular body formation, membrane repair, cytokinetic abscission, and virus exit from host cells.
Asymmetric nuclear division in neural stem cells generates sibling nuclei that differ in size, envelope composition, and chromatin organization
Highlights • Neural stem cells maintain a nuclear lamina and envelope throughout mitosis • Asymmetric nuclear division forms sibling nuclei that differ in size and composition • The nuclear asymmetry depends on an asymmetric spindle and differential growth • Asymmetric nuclear division likely contributes to the generation of cell diversity Summary Although nuclei are the defining features of eukaryotes, we still do not fully understand how the nuclear compartment is duplicated and partitioned...
Extreme Makeover of the Annual ASCB|EMBO Meeting
ASCB President Eva Nogales asked Buzz Baum and Rebecca Heald, co-chairs of the Program Committee for Cell Bio Virtual 2020–An ASCB|EMBO Meeting, to be guest authors for this issue’s President’s Column. Over a year ago, back when we agreed to help organize the 2020 ASCB|EMBO meeting, we had a vision. We thought back to the thrill of previous meetings.
An ESCRT-III Polymerization Sequence Drives Membrane Deformation and Fission
Under a Creative Commons license open access Highlights • ESCRT-III subunits polymerize sequentially at the membrane driven by the ATPase Vps4 • The ESCRT-III polymerization sequence ends by Did2/Ist1 to catalyze membrane fission • Subunit exchange triggers changes in ESCRT-III polymers shape and properties • Tilt introduction in the polymer-membrane interface mediates filament buckling Summary The endosomal sorting complex required for transport-III (ESCRT-III) catalyzes membrane fission...
Developing cells remember where they came from, thanks to keratin filaments
NEWS AND VIEWS 26 August 2020 Filaments of keratin — stable protein polymers best known for their function in hair and nails — provide a memory of cell polarity at a crucial stage in early mouse development. Mateusz Trylinski & Mateusz Trylinski is in the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Closed mitosis requires local disassembly of the nuclear envelope
Abstract At the end of mitosis, eukaryotic cells must segregate the two copies of their replicated genome into two new nuclear compartments1. They do this either by first dismantling and later reassembling the nuclear envelope in an ‘open mitosis’ or by reshaping an intact nucleus and then dividing it into two in a ‘closed mitosis’2,3.
The merger that made us
Darwin was the first to imagine a tree of life with all living organisms at its branch tips, connected back through time to a single common ancestor at the base of the trunk. We now know that all known cellular life descended from a single rootstock, with bacteria and archaea, structurally simple prokaryotic cells that lack internal membrane-bound structures, making up the trees’ two main branches (see Fig. 1).
Actomyosin controls planarity and folding of epithelia in response to compression
Abstract Throughout embryonic development and adult life, epithelia are subjected to compressive deformations. While these have been shown to trigger mechanosensitive responses such as cell extrusion and differentiation, which span tens of minutes, little is known about how epithelia adapt to compression over shorter timescales. Here, using suspended epithelia, we uncover the immediate response of epithelial tissues to the application of in-plane compressive strains (5–80%).
Evolution or revolution? Changing the way science is published and communicated
Loading metrics Open Access Perspective Buzz Baum, Enrico Coen Published: June 4, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000272 Abstract The Internet is rapidly changing the way the results of academic research are communicated within communities and with the wider public.
A microbe no one has even seen could explain our origins
Between Greenland and Norway in the mid-Atlantic ocean, 7,546ft (2300m) below the surface, there is a black and smoky region where hot water spouts up from the sea bed. This strange place is called "Loki's castle" after the shape-shifting Norse God Loki: the one Tom Hiddleston played in The Avengers. Close to Loki's castle, there lives a microbe like no other on Earth.
On the Archaeal Origins of Eukaryotes and the Challenges of Inferring Phenotype from Genotype
A Hunt for the Archaeal Ancestor of Eukaryotes What Does Loki Look Like? In search of clues to resolve this question, we look at the lessons that can be learned from small GTPases. The identification of numerous ‘Ras-like’ (Ras/Rho/Rab/Ran) and ‘Arf-like’ (Arf/Sar) small GTPases, as well as homologs of the atypical vacuolar/lysosomal Rag GTPases [23xTracing the archaeal origins of eukaryotic membrane-trafficking system building blocks. Klinger, C.M. et al. Mol. Biol. Evol. Published online February.
Oriented Division: Using T-Junctions to Determine Direction
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