📄 Category

cell biology

419 papers

Cell biology is the study of life at its most fundamental unit: the cell. This field explores how these microscopic building blocks function, communicate, and replicate to sustain living organisms, from the simplest bacteria to complex human tissues. By understanding the machinery inside a cell, scientists unlock secrets about growth, disease, and the very nature of existence itself.

At Gist.Science, we track every new preprint uploaded to bioRxiv within this dynamic category. Our team processes each submission to provide both accessible plain-language explanations and detailed technical summaries, ensuring you can grasp complex discoveries without getting lost in dense jargon. Below are the latest papers in cell biology, offering a fresh look at the inner workings of life as they are shared with the world.

📄 cell biology

Live high-content imaging with automated analysis reveals mitochondrial changes during vascular calcification

This paper introduces the High-throughput Mitochondrial Imaging Platform (H-MIP), a scalable system combining automated imaging and deep learning analysis that enables rapid, unbiased characterization of mitochondrial morphology in tens of thousands of cells, successfully revealing mitochondrial elongation during vascular calcification and demonstrating its potential to accelerate therapeutic discovery.

Lee, J.-E., Torres, A. S., Punnakka, A. R., Tan, X., Cholewa-Waclaw, J., Kardoost, A., Tang, Q., Leighton, C., Leong, J. (…)2026-02-05
📄 cell biology

Proteogenomic Profiling Reveals a Distinct Endogenous p16INK4a-Associated Senescence Signature in the Human Ovary.

This study utilizes proteogenomic profiling to define a distinct endogenous p16INK4a-associated senescence signature in the human ovary, revealing specific gene and protein changes related to cellular senescence and the extracellular matrix that may link natural ovarian aging to age-associated diseases like cancer.

Senchyna, F., Schneider, K., Raj Devrukhkar, P. R., Martin, N., Tran, T., Byrne, J., Watson, M., Wu, F., Belic, M., Fuen (…)2026-02-04
📄 cell biology

Cell-matrix mechanosensing and cellular metabolic demand are linked through SKT and mTORC2

This study identifies the uncharacterized protein SKT as a mechanosensitive rheostat that recruits mTORC2 to cell-matrix adhesions to regulate glycolytic flux and adhesion dynamics, thereby linking extracellular matrix stiffness to metabolic adaptation and tumor progression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Collins, M., Young, L., Goodall, E., Hammond, B., Newman, D., Atherton, P., Caswell, P. T., Zech, T. N.2026-02-04
📄 cell biology

Multiple overlapping SNARE complexes drive endosome maturation in Drosophila nephrocytes

Using Drosophila nephrocytes to overcome mammalian redundancy, this study revises the linear model of endosome maturation by demonstrating that it is driven by a network of multiple, parallel, and partially compensatory SNARE complexes centered on Snap29, rather than a single ordered pathway.

Hargitai, D., Molnar, M., Rubics, A., Bodor, I., Baukal, D., Nagy, A., Balogh, V., Simon-Vecsei, Z., Juhasz, G., Lorincz (…)2026-02-04
📄 cell biology

Adapting the OpenFlexure Microscope for Affordable Live-Cell Imaging

This paper presents adaptations to the open-source OpenFlexure Microscope—including environmental hardening for humid incubators, thermal and vibration mitigation, and a simplified local GUI—that enable affordable, high-quality live-cell imaging for researchers in resource-constrained settings, as validated by a 48-hour breast cancer drug treatment study.

Malcolm, J. R., Physouni, O., Lacy, S., Bentley, M., Howarth, S. P., MacDonald, S., Droop, A. P., Powell, B. P., Wiggins (…)2026-02-03
📄 cell biology

The REFLEX system enables in vivo identification of perivascular angiogenic macrophages in the heart

The study introduces the REFLEX system combined with HUNTERuni-seq to identify perivascular angiogenic macrophages (PVAMs) as the critical, physically contacting source of VEGF-A that maintains cardiac vascular integrity and function during pressure overload, challenging the conventional view that cardiomyocytes are the primary producers of this signaling molecule.

Sato, T., Isagawa, T., Kawakami, T., Hosokawa, S., Ito, M., Sawaki, D., Sato, S., Nakagama, Y., Ono, K., Ariunbold, C.-E (…)2026-01-30
📄 cell biology

Integrated meta-analysis of public human pancreatic single-cell transcriptomes reveals distinct beta-cell state trajectories across aging and diabetes

By integrating over 266,000 human pancreatic cells from 18 public single-cell RNA sequencing datasets, this study constructs a unified atlas that reveals three distinct beta-cell state trajectories driven by aging, diabetes, and metabolic stress, highlighting how beta-cell identity erodes through specific transcriptional programs involving endocrine-exocrine plasticity while alpha-cell states remain relatively stable.

Iich, E.2026-01-29
📄 cell biology

PDZD-8 interacts with LGG-2/LC3 to promote autolysosome formation

This study identifies the endoplasmic reticulum protein PDZD-8 as a novel LGG-2/LC3 interactor that utilizes both its SMP lipid-transfer domain and LIR motif to mediate ER-autophagosome contacts, thereby facilitating the completion of autolysosome formation and maintaining autophagic flux in *C. elegans*.

Pouget, A., Meire, V., Largeau, C., Boulogne, C., Roelens, B., Zea, D. J., Lefebvre, C., Legouis, R., Culetto, E.2026-01-28