Chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer and functions as the main structural
component in a variety of living organisms. In nature, chitin rarely occurs in a pure form, but …

The tracheal system of insects is a network of epithelial tubules that functions as a
respiratory organ to supply oxygen to various target organs. Target-derived signaling inputs …

In epithelia, specialized tricellular junctions (TCJs) mediate cell contacts at three-cell
vertices. TCJs are fundamental to epithelial biology and disease, but only a few TCJ …

Occluding cell-cell junctions in epithelia form physical barriers that separate different
membrane domains, restrict paracellular diffusion and prevent pathogens from spreading …

A crucial yet ill-defined step during the development of tubular networks, such as the
vasculature, is the formation of connections (anastomoses) between pre-existing lumenized …

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) comprise diverse types of cell-released membranous structures
that are thought to play important roles in intercellular communication. While the formation …

A seamless tube is a very narrow-bore tube that is composed of a single cell with an
intracellular lumen and no adherens or tight junctions along its length. Many capillaries in …

Cell vertices in epithelia comprise specialized tricellular junctions (TCJs) that seal the
paracellular space between three adjoining cells [1, 2]. Although TCJs play fundamental …

Intracellular trafficking of secretory proteins plays key roles in animal development and
physiology, but so far, tools for investigating the dynamics of membrane trafficking have …

Branching morphogenesis is a fascinating process whereby a simple network of biological
tubes increases its complexity by adding new branches to existing ones, generating an …