Illukkumbura et al. reveal that cluster-dependent tuning of membrane binding rather than size-dependent coupling to the actomyosin cortex enables differential transport of PAR proteins by cortical flows in the C. elegans zygote.

The mechanism of how mitotic kinetochores accomplish robust, long-distance coupling with spindle microtubule plus-ends during metaphase and anaphase is unknown. This work demonstrates that the replication licensing protein Cdt1 synergizes with kinetochore Ndc80 and the Ska1 complexes to form a tripartite Ndc80-Cdt1-Ska1 complex that processively tracks the plus-ends of dynamic microtubules.

Hakanpää et al. show that reticular adhesions are assembled at flat clathrin lattices, a process inhibited by fibronectin and its receptor, integrin α5β1. This novel adhesion assembly mechanism is coupled to cell migration and reveals a unique crosstalk between cell-matrix adhesions.

Ivanovska and Tobin plus coworkers show that fat-filled lipid droplets have a high interfacial tension which helps to maintain the sphericity of small droplets—even when interacting with the cytoskeleton and nucleus that can be deformed and sometimes disrupted by small droplets.

Yang et al. reveal an autoinhibitory mechanism of the centrosomin motif 1 and the relief of the autoinhibition by phosphorylation. This autoinhibition plays a role in controlling microtubule nucleation on centrosomes and the Golgi complex, and it also regulates centrosome positioning, Golgi assembly, and cell polarization.

Shelke et al. show that disruption of the BORC–ARL8–HOPS pathway increases exosome secretion by impairing fusion of multivesicular endosomes with lysosomes, and thus increasing the availability of intraluminal vesicles for release into the extracellular space.

Gáspár et al. reveal that sequential activity of dynein and kinesin-1 motors during transport of oskar mRNA to the posterior of the Drosophila oocyte is orchestrated by competition between two double-stranded RNA-binding proteins, Egl and Staufen, and that this process is spatio-temporally controlled by dynein-mediated localization of the staufen mRNA.