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In neurons and other cells, contacts between organelles regulates function and subcellular organization, but the precise mechanisms and effects are unclear. Here the authors show that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) tubules in the soma of neurons regulate lysosome localization and function by regulating lysosomal fission, suggesting a role for ER – lysosome inter-organelle membrane contact sites in lysosomal axonal availability.

It is difficult to apply SMLM to complex biological tissues. Here the authors report REALM, Robust and Effective Adaptive Optics in Localisation Microscopy, to improve SMLM in tissue and use this to resolve the organisation of spectrin in the axon initial segment in brain tissue.

Light-based modulation of the microtubule (MT) cytoskeleton is an attractive goal for spatiotemporally-resolved MT studies. Here the authors develop a first generation photoswitchable small molecule MT stabiliser based on paclitaxel, allowing optical control over cellular MT dynamics.

Autophagic clearance of aggregates, aggrephagy, is essential for cellular homeostasis but tools to induce and monitor it are limited. Here the authors present a fluorescence-based aggrephagy induction assay to study spatiotemporal dynamics and control mechanisms driving protein aggregate clearance.

Microtubules in dendrites are characterized by mixed polarity orientation. Here, the authors show a role for adenomatous polyposis coli 2 (APC2) in regulating dendrite microtubule dynamics and dendrite development.

Methods to probe transport dynamics within cells can shed insight into the nature of the cytoplasm. Here the authors develop a method to functionalize and deliver quantum dots intracellularly to show how the cytoskeleton influences non-equilibrium intracellular transport dynamics.