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Background Group I Paks are serine/threonine kinases that function as major effectors of the small GTPases Rac1 and Cdc42, and they regulate cytoskeletal dynamics, cell polarity, and transcription. We previously demonstrated that Pak1 and Pak2 function redundantly to promote skeletal myoblast differentiation during postnatal development and regeneration in mice. However, the roles of Pak1 and Pak2 in adult muscle homeostasis are unknown. Choline kinase β (Chk β) is important for adult muscle homeostasis, as autosomal recessive mutations in CHKβ are associated with two human muscle diseases, megaconial congenital muscular dystrophy and proximal myopathy with focal depletion of mitochondria. Methods We analyzed mice conditionally lacking Pak1 and Pak2 in the skeletal muscle lineage (double knockout (dKO) mice) over 1 year of age. Muscle integrity in dKO mice was assessed with histological stains, immunofluorescence, electron microscopy, and western blotting. Assays for mitochondrial respiratory complex function were performed, as was mass spectrometric quantification of products of choline kinase. Mice and cultured myoblasts deficient for choline kinase β (Chk β) were analyzed for Pak1/2 phosphorylation. Results dKO mice developed an age-related myopathy. By 10 months of age, dKO mouse muscles displayed centrally-nucleated myofibers, fibrosis, and signs of degeneration. Disease severity occurred in a rostrocaudal gradient, hindlimbs more strongly affected than forelimbs. A distinctive feature of this myopathy was elongated and branched intermyofibrillar (megaconial) mitochondria, accompanied by focal mitochondrial depletion in the central region of the fiber. dKO muscles showed reduced mitochondrial respiratory complex I and II activity. These phenotypes resemble those of rmd mice, which lack Chkβ and are a model for human diseases associated with CHKβ deficiency. Pak1/2 and Chkβ activities were not interdependent in mouse skeletal muscle, suggesting a more complex relationship in regulation of mitochondria and muscle homeostasis. Conclusions Conditional loss of Pak1 and Pak2 in mice resulted in an age-dependent myopathy with similarity to mice and humans with CHKβ deficiency. Protein kinases are major regulators of most biological processes but few have been implicated in muscle maintenance or disease. Pak1/Pak2 dKO mice offer new insights into these processes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13395-019-0191-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In this study, a planar-surface photonic crystal (PC) biosensor for quantitative, kinetic, label-free imaging of cell–surface interactions is demonstrated. The planar biosensor surface eliminates external stimuli to the cells caused by substrate topography to more accurately reflect smooth surface environment encountered by many cell types in vitro. Here, a fabrication approach that combines nanoreplica molding and a horizontal dipping process is used to planarize the surface of the PC biosensor. The planar PC biosensor maintains a high detection sensitivity that enables the monitoring of live cell–substrate interactions with spatial resolution sufficient for observing intracellular attachment strength gradients and the extensions of filopodia from the cell body. The evolution of cell morphology during the attachment and spreading process of 3T3 fibroblast cells is compared between planar and grating-structured PC biosensors. The planar surface effectively eliminates the directionally biased cellular attachment behaviors that are observed on the grating-structured surface. This work represents an important step forward in the development of label-free techniques for observing cellular processes without unintended external environmental modulation.

During World War II, a 'guerrilla war' took place on home territory. Though less public and less bloody than the main conflict, it was conducted with single-minded determination, resulting in mutual recrimination and bitterness and resentment on the side of the losers. The unlikely guerrillas were the hierarchy of the Library Association, principally Arundell Esdaile, Lionel McColvin and P. S. J. Welsford (President, Honorary Secretary and Secretary, respectively) and the targets of its attacks were the allied forces of the Army and the War Office. The issues over which hostilities were conducted were the administration of the Services Central Book Depot, a military organization charged with the collection and distribution of books to the Armed Forces, and the control of the Service Libraries and Books Fund, a body set up by the Lord Mayor of London to raise funds and public donations of books. The underlying causes of the conflict were the irreconcilably different ideologies and cultural values held by the main protagonists and the ambitions of the Library Association to extend its influence and assert control over the supply of books to the Armed Forces.The letter printed on the following page 1 marked the beginning of the endgame of the last battle in the Library Association's guerrilla war 2 -its bid to control the supply of books to the Armed Forces -and it requires some elucidation.