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Biology subjects

Futagi, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Futagi, D..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Nuclear speckles comprise hierarchical nanoscale interaction networks that shape molecular dynamics

Biomolecular condensates organize essential cellular processes, but how their internal architecture regulates molecular behavior in living cells remains poorly understood. Here, we use MINFLUX nanoscopy for quantitative single-molecule imaging and live-cell tracking to resolve the organization and dynamics of specific macromolecules within nuclear speckles. Rather than behaving as uniform liquid-like compartments, nuclear speckles are hierarchically organized into dynamic nanoscale interaction networks. Proteins and RNAs assemble into molecular clusters that generate transient interaction nanodomains, where individual molecules alternate between diffusion and confinement while exploring higher-order networks. Physiological and genetic perturbations selectively remodel molecular clustering and nanodomain organization, and these changes are not consistently coupled to changes in the abundance of the measured components. Together, these findings reveal a multiscale organization of nuclear speckles in which molecular clustering, transient confinement, and dynamic exchange represent distinct but interconnected features of condensate architecture in living cells.

cell biology↗

A non-conducting role of the Cav1.4 Ca2+ channel drives homeostatic plasticity at the cone photoreceptor synapse

In congenital stationary night blindness type 2 (CSNB2)--a disorder involving the Cav1.4 (L-type) Ca2+ channel--visual impairment is mild considering that Cav1.4 mediates synaptic release from rod and cone photoreceptors. Here, we addressed this conundrum using a Cav1.4 knockout (KO) mouse and a knock-in (G369i KI) mouse expressing a non-conducting Cav1.4. Surprisingly, Cav3 (T-type) Ca2+ currents were detected in cones of G369i KI mice and Cav1.4 KO mice but not in cones of wild-type mouse, ground squirrel, and macaque retina. Whereas Cav1.4 KO mice are blind, G369i KI mice exhibit normal photopic (i.e., cone-mediated) visual behavior. Cone synapses, which fail to form in Cav1.4 KO mice, are present, albeit enlarged, and with some errors in postsynaptic wiring in G369i KI mice. While Cav1.4 KO mice lack evidence of cone synaptic responses, electrophysiological recordings in G369i KI mice revealed nominal transmission from cones to horizontal cells and bipolar cells. In CSNB2, we propose that Cav3 channels maintain cone synaptic output provided that the nonconducting role of Cav1.4 in cone synaptogenesis remains intact. Our findings reveal an unexpected form of homeostatic plasticity that relies on a non-canonical role of an ion channel.

neuroscience↗

Design of the mammalian cone photoreceptor to Off bipolar cell synapse

Graded synapses in sensory systems reliably transmit small signals in the presence of continuous quantal noise. To understand how signaling is optimized during graded transmission, we counted the number of vesicles released by a mammalian cone terminal and compared it to the simultaneous responses in each Off bipolar cell type. Off bipolar cells contacting the terminal base comprised two groups depending on how they sampled transmitter release. In both groups, responses initially grew non-linearly with the number of released vesicles implicating a role for cooperativity during sparse release. One group sampled release from most of a cones [~]20 ribbons and can exploit averaging to improve signal reliability. The other, less-sensitive group made 1-3 contacts at the terminal center and responded to pooled transmitter, a consequence of membrane depolarization, using an insensitive kainate receptor. Off bipolar cells use different strategies to minimize transmission noise and encode cone output over different ranges.

neuroscience↗