Summary: Kinesin-5 modulates microtubule sliding in neurons, acting as a brake to ensure precise axon pathfinding during Drosophila neuronal development.

Combining two powerful imaging techniques, Renganathan et al. provide unprecedented detail of the intermediate filament network in cells.

Epithelial cells from diverse contexts assemble apical specializations to serve tissue-specific functions. In virtually all cases, these features consist of arrays of microvilli: micron-scale, actin b...

Actin-microtubules (MT) interactions are essential, but how those mechanisms are orchestrated in complex developing systems is poorly understood. Here we show that actin-MT crosstalk regulates actin c...

Microtubule acetylation is implicated in regulating cell motility, yet its physiological role in directional migration and the underlying molecular mechanisms have remained unclear. This knowledge gap has persisted primarily due to a lack of tools capable of rapidly manipulating microtubule acetylation in actively migrating cells. To overcome this limitation and elucidate the causal relationship between microtubule acetylation and cell migration, we developed a novel optogenetic actuator, optoTAT, which enables precise and rapid induction of microtubule acetylation within minutes in live cells. Using optoTAT, we observed striking and rapid responses at both molecular and cellular level. First, microtubule acetylation triggers release of the RhoA activator GEF-H1 from sequestration on microtubules. This release subsequently enhances actomyosin contractility and drives focal adhesion maturation. These subcellular processes collectively promote sustained directional cell migration. Our findings position GEF-H1 as a critical molecular responder to microtubule acetylation in the regulation of directed cell migration, revealing a dynamic crosstalk between the actin and microtubule cytoskeletal networks. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors declare that there is a pending patent application related to optoTAT.

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