signaling to orchestrate cell shape changes during mesoderm invagination. The apically targeted transmembrane protein T48 acts as an anchor for RhoGEF2 via a PDZ binding motif and thereby ensures the apical enrichment of RhoGEF2 during mesoderm invagination allowing rapid and efficient ventral furrow formation. Apical constriction also requires the tethering of the contractile network to the ad...

The attachment of particle-bound IgG in a nonphagocytic system stimulates formation of a microfilament-rich, organelle-poor zone in the subjacent cytoplasm of human neutrophils. The attachment site is characterized by ruffling and invagination of the neutrophil membrane. Both IgG attachment and formation of the organelle-poor zone are inhibited by the microfilament inhibitor cytochalasin-B, but...

FtsZ is a soluble, tubulin-like GTPase that forms a membrane-associated ring at the division site of bacterial cells. While this ring is thought to drive cell constriction, it is not well understood how it is assembled or how it affects cell wall invagination. Here we report that FtsZ binds directly to a novel integral inner membrane protein in E. coli that we call ZipA. We present genetic and ...

Intussusception was first described by Barbette from Amsterdam in 1674. He also suggested surgical treatment. In 1876, Hirschsprung first reported the technique of hydrostatic reduction. Intussusception (invagination) is a specific form of intestinal occlusion. It is invagination of a proximal portion of intestine (intussusceptum) into distal portion (intussusceptions) and is one of the most co...

Adenomyosis, an estrogen-dependent inflammatory disease, is defined as the presence of endometrial glands and stroma deep within the myometrium [1]. The main clinical features of adenomyosis are dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia, which are significantly associated with peritoneal endometriosis in infertile patients at reproductive age [2,3]. The only difference between adenomyosis and endometriosis ...

Endocytosis, like many dynamic cellular processes, requires precise temporal and spatial orchestration of complex protein machinery to mediate membrane budding. To understand how this machinery works, we directly correlated fluorescence microscopy of key protein pairs with electron tomography. We systematically located 211 endocytic intermediates, assigned each to a specific time window in endo...

A 15-year-old girl with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) and multiple bone fractures since early childhood presented with occipital headache. She had blue sclera and short neck (figure 1), right hypoglossal palsy, bilateral pyramidal tract signs, and gazeevoked nystagmus. Cervical MRI showed platybasia, basilar invagination, brainstem/high cord compression, and narrowing of upper cervical canal (fi...

Vertebrate placodes are regions of thickened head ectoderm that contribute to paired sensory organs and cranial ganglia. We demonstrate that the transcription factor Spalt4 (also known as Sall4) is broadly expressed in chick preplacodal epiblast and later resolves to otic, lens and olfactory placodes. Ectopic expression of Spalt4 by electroporation is sufficient to induce invagination of non-pl...

Apical constriction is one of the fundamental mechanisms by which embryonic tissue is deformed, giving rise to the shape and form of the fully-developed organism. The mechanism involves a contraction of fibres embedded in the apical side of epithelial tissues, leading to an invagination or folding of the cell sheet. In this article the phenomenon is modelled mechanically by describing the epith...

A dilated odontoma is an extremely rare developmental anomaly represented as a dilatation of the crown and root as a consequence of a deep, enamel-lined invagination and is considered a severe variant of dens invaginatus. An oval shape of the tooth lacking morphological characteristics of a crown or root implies that the invagination happened in the initial stages of morphodifferentiation. Spon...