Nature Cell Biology

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 09 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02071-y Keeping time with protein turnover

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 09 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02072-x Reining in immune responses with MDM2

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 09 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02073-w DYRK1B at processing bodies

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 09 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02040-5 Biayna, Baranovskii and colleagues report that intron-retained RNAs derived from cell cycle- and genome maintenance-related genes are pooled at the periphery of nuclear speckles and undergo synchronous splicing at mitosis, thereby contributing to their temporal regulation.

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 07 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02058-9 Le et al. show that in Xenopus embryos, local ectodermal tissue flows provide a directional cue that polarizes and guides embryonic myeloid cells migration via cell-on-cell interactions.

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 02 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02057-w Li, Jihad and colleagues develop an organoid co-culture system, alongside patient tissue and mouse model analyses, to model, characterize and compare cellular interactions between epithelia and stroma in pancreatitis versus pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 01 September 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02078-5 Author Correction: Characterizing the metabolomes of microglia, astrocytes and neurons in ageing and Alzheimer’s brains

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 27 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02054-z Successful pregnancy rates decline with maternal age, even when embryos appear genetically normal. We show that maternal ageing changes the physical properties of the embryo, which reduces implantation success. Our findings identify altered embryo mechanics as a previously unrecognized consequence of reproductiv…

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 25 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02052-1 Cavanaugh et al. show that embryos from aged mice have increased contractility and tissue viscosity on embryonic day 4.5, which leads to poor spreading and attachment. Similar age-associated mechanical changes in human embryos correlate with implantation potential.

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 25 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02045-0 Gao et al. show that yeast grow faster by proportionally increasing mRNA and ribosome concentrations to increase actively translating ribosomes, while elongation remains constant. A mass-action model explains growth-rate changes.

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 24 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02038-z Peng, Xue et al. develop a nucleic acid metabolites detection method, DNA RNA Elements Areal Mass Spectrometry (DREAMS) which enables the identification of DNA and RNA modifications, as well as spatial mapping of these modifications within tissues.

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 24 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02047-y Chen, Zhang and colleagues report ctEV-CLOCK as a tool to characterize circulating tumour-derived extracellular vesicles and demonstrate a pattern of circadian oscillation, which may be leveraged to design time-synchronized targeted cancer therapy.

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 21 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02039-y We present an updated reporter as the most sensitive readout for cGAS activation. Using this biosensor, we show that cGAS activation during genotoxic stress is rare, and that it is not driven by micronuclei. Instead, subsets of chromosome bridges and complex DNA structures containing DNA–RNA hybrids were found t…

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 21 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02037-0 Lebrec et al. present a FRET-based cGAS reporter and show that cGAS activation by genotoxic stress is rare and uncoupled from micronuclei. The study implicates R-loop structures and subtypes of chromatin bridges as potential cGAS activators.

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 21 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02053-0 This Perspective discusses emerging evidence for non-cell-autonomous propagation of ferroptotic cell death and highlights the mechanisms that underlie its restriction in tissues, as well as ferroptosis surveillance beyond the cellular level.

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 20 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02046-z Long recognized for its roles in autophagy and endosomal trafficking, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase class III (PI3K-3) is now shown to also function in the nucleus. A recent study shows that PI3K-3 associates with the transcriptional machinery and a chromatin-modifying complex, and contributes to transcriptional…

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 14 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02048-x Kim et al. demonstrate a non-canonical function for EZH2 in modulating cholesterol metabolism and tumour development by interacting with SREBP2, which may be targeted by PROTACs to disrupt its oncogenic activity.

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 14 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02036-1 Metabolic adaptation functions as an important selective bottleneck during tumour development. A study reveals that in response to glucose starvation, a metabolite from the TCA cycle is leveraged to enhance translation of the transcription factor NRF2, providing a critical adaptive response against disulfidptosi…

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 10 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02049-w Early human crosstalk

Nature Cell Biology, Published online: 10 August 2026; doi:10.1038/s41556-026-02051-2 A chromatin remodeller silences SINE retrotransposons