Dr. Christopher Brownlee featured on the cover of EMBO reports

This month's cover highlights the article Palmitoylated Importin α Regulates Mitotic Spindle Orientation Through Interaction with NuMA by Patrick James Sutton, Natalie Mosqueda and Christopher Brownlee. The image shows a dissected brain from a Xenopus laevis stage 46 tadpole, showcasing midbrain and hindbrain structures. The brain is stained for nestin (green - neural progenitor cells) and beta-tubulin (magenta - all neurons). Regulation of mitotic spindle orientation and in turn cell division orientation is necessary for proper differentiation of neural progenitor cells. The population of neural progenitor cells in the brain is depleted when importin α palmitoylation is disrupted, establishing a role for importin α in division orientation and neuronal development.

Cover illustration conceptualized and created by the authors.