About Trends in Cell Biology

Trends in Cell Biology, published by Cell Press, is a leading review journal in molecular and cell biology. Its review articles monitor the breadth and depth of current research in cell biology, and objectively chronicle recent and important developments in newly emerging or rapidly progressing fields. In addition to Reviews, Trends in Cell Biology publishes Opinion articles, which provide original perspectives on controversial topics and aim to stimulate new research or debate on innovative ideas. An occasionally used article format is the Research Focus, which aims to briefly highlight topical issues and recent research papers of particular note, explaining their significance for a wide audience.

Special Issue-Imaging Cell Biology: All Articles FREE

In November 2008, Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien were awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, to recognize their truly groundbreaking work identifying green fluorescent protein (GFP) and showing that it can be used as a tool to study a wide range of cellular processes. Chalfie and Tsien's special seminar at the ASCB 48th Annual Meeting in San Francisco the following month was an opportunity for the community to hear first-hand the excitement and inspiration behind learning how to manipulate this humble jellyfish protein. Very soon after its discovery, GFP was catapulted literally into the limelight, and is now in use in cell biological laboratories worldwide. It started a microscopy revolution.

We are marking the 1-year anniversary of this well-deserved recognition with a special issue of Trends in Cell Biology devoted to state-of-the-art imaging approaches. Through a group of 12 topical reviews by experts in the field, we provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work being done in cell biology using GFP, its relatives and derivatives, and other innovative tools and techniques.

Centrosome Special Focus:

The centrosome is the microtubule-organising centre of metazoan cells and has a vital role in spindle formation and cell division, and cell migration and polarization. Much exciting research is in progress to determine the molecular mechanisms by which this tiny organelle carries out its many functions in the cell.

In this Special Focus, Uttam Surana and colleagues describe how separation of duplicated centrosomes is regulated during cell division. When this process is misregulated, cell division is compromised, the assumption being that this predisposes daughter cells to genomic instability and, thus, tumorigenesis. Fanni Gergely and Deborah Zyss give insight into whether abnormalities in centrosome number really do lead to genetic instability or whether malfunctions in asymmetric cell division are actually the root cause in carcinogenesis downstream of centrosome malfunction. Meanwhile, in migrating neurons and growth cones, the position of the centrosome and nucleus are important to regulated cell movement. Richard Vallee and colleagues describe recent advances in understanding the roles of cytoplasmic dynein and myosin II in this process.

Instructions for authors:

Articles for Trends in Cell Biology are generally invited by the Editor, but proposals for articles are welcome. Prospective authors should contact the Editor via the TCB online submission site (ees.elsevier.com/tcb) with an abstract (120 words), up to 20 key references and a cover letter (two pages maximum) outlining what will be discussed in the article and why the suggested topic would be timely.
Note: all articles in Trends in Cell Biology are peer reviewed and publication cannot be guaranteed. Trends in Cell Biology is not a primary publication and thus cannot consider manuscripts that rely on unpublished data. Full length manuscripts cannot be submitted without prior consultation with the Editor.

Most Read Articles Article Feed

These are the five most downloaded papers for the 30 days preceding March 10, 2010. See full list of most read articles

p53 and stem cells: new developments and new concerns

Tongbiao Zhao, Yang Xu
10.1016/j.tcb.2009.12.004

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Fluorescent proteins: a cell biologist's user guide

Erik Lee Snapp
10.1016/j.tcb.2009.08.002

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Photoactivatable fluorescent proteins for diffraction-limited and super-resolution imaging

Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz, George H. Patterson
10.1016/j.tcb.2009.09.003

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Dynamics and functions of tight junctions

Emily Steed, Maria S. Balda, Karl Matter
10.1016/j.tcb.2009.12.002

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A single molecule view of gene expression

Daniel R. Larson, Robert H. Singer, Daniel Zenklusen
10.1016/j.tcb.2009.08.008

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