Desmosomes are cell–cell junctions that provide mechanical integrity to epithelial and cardiac tissues. Desmosomes have two distinct adhesive states, calcium-dependent and hyperadhesive, which balance tissue plasticity and strength. A highly ordered array of cadherins in the adhesive interface is hypothesized to drive hyperadhesion, but how desmosome structure confers adhesive state is still elusive. We employed fluorescence polarization microscopy to show that cadherin order is not required for hyperadhesion induced by pharmacologic and genetic approaches. FRAP experiments in cells treated with the PKCα inhibitor Gö6976 revealed that cadherins, plakoglobin, and desmoplakin have significantly reduced exchange in and out of hyperadhesive desmosomes. To test whether this was a result of enhanced keratin association, we used the desmoplakin mutant S2849G, which conferred reduced protein exchange. We propose that inside-out regulation of protein exchange modulates adhesive function, whereby proteins are “locked in” to hyperadhesive desmosomes while protein exchange confers plasticity on calcium-dependent desmosomes, thereby providing rapid control of adhesion.

In 2016, Michigan experienced the largest outbreak of shigellosis, a type of bacillary dysentery caused by spp., since 1988. Following this outbreak, we isolated 16 novel-infecting bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) from environmental water sources. Most well-known bacteriophages infect the common laboratory species and, and these phages have built the foundation of molecular and bacteriophage biology. Until now, comparatively few bacteriophages were known to infect spp., which are close relatives of We present a comprehensive analysis of these phages' host ranges, genomes, and structures, revealing genome sizes and capsid properties that are shared by very few previously described phages. After sequencing, a majority of the phages were found to have genomes of an uncommon size, shared by only 2% of all reported phage genomes. To investigate the structural implications of this unusual genome size, we used cryo-electron microscopy to resolve their capsid structures. We determined that these bacteriophage capsids have similarly uncommon geometry. Only two other viruses with this capsid structure have been described. Since most well-known bacteriophages infect or , our understanding of bacteriophages has been limited to a subset of well-described systems. Continuing to isolate phages using nontraditional strains of bacteria can fill gaps that currently exist in bacteriophage biology. In addition, the prevalence of phages during a shigellosis outbreak may suggest a potential impact of human health epidemics on local microbial communities. spp. bacteria are causative agents of dysentery and affect more than 164 million people worldwide every year. Despite the need to combat antibiotic-resistant strains, relatively few-infecting bacteriophages have been described. By specifically looking for -infecting phages, this work has identified new isolates that (i) may be useful to combat infections and (ii) fill gaps in our knowledge of bacteriophage biology. The rare qualities of these new isolates emphasize the importance of isolating phages on "nontraditional" laboratory strains of bacteria to more fully understand both the basic biology and diversity of bacteriophages.

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Desmosomes are macromolecular cell-cell junctions critical for maintaining adhesion and resisting mechanical stress in epithelial tissue. Desmosome assembly and the relationship between maturity and molecular architecture are not well understood. To address this, we employed a calcium switch assay to synchronize assembly followed by quantification of desmosome nanoscale organization using direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (dSTORM). We found that the organization of the desmoplakin rod/C-terminal junction changed over the course of maturation, as indicated by a decrease in the plaque-to-plaque distance, while the plaque length increased. In contrast, the desmoplakin N-terminal domain and plakoglobin organization (plaque-to-plaque distance) were constant throughout maturation. This structural rearrangement of desmoplakin was concurrent with desmosome maturation measured by E-cadherin exclusion and increased adhesive strength. Using two-color dSTORM, we showed that while the number of individual E-cadherin containing junctions went down with the increasing time in high Ca 2+ , they maintained a wider desmoplakin rod/C-terminal plaque-to-plaque distance. This indicates that the maturation state of individual desmosomes can be identified by their architectural organization. We confirmed these architectural changes in another model of desmosome assembly, cell migration. Desmosomes in migrating cells, closest to the scratch where they are assembling, were shorter, E-cadherin enriched, and had wider desmoplakin rod/C-terminal plaque-to-plaque distances compared to desmosomes away from the wound edge. Key results were demonstrated in three cell lines representing simple, transitional, and stratified epithelia. Together, these data suggest that there is a set of architectural programs for desmosome maturation, and we hypothesize that desmoplakin architecture may be a contributing mechanism to regulating adhesive strength.