August 2013

Research articles

    1. Cell Biology

    Bax and Bak function as the outer membrane component of the mitochondrial permeability pore in regulating necrotic cell death in mice

    Jason Karch, Jennifer Q Kwong ... Jeffery D Molkentin
    The proteins Bax and Bak, which increase the permeability of the mitochondrial membrane during apoptosis, are also crucial for generating a mitochondrial membrane pore that is specifically involved in necrosis.
    1. Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

    Physiological and stem cell compartmentalization within the Drosophila midgut

    Alexis Marianes, Allan C Spradling
    The intestine contains distinct subregions specialized for digestion along its anterior-posterior axis, and the stem cells that constantly renew these subregions are not interchangeable.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Patient-specific iPSC-derived photoreceptor precursor cells as a means to investigate retinitis pigmentosa

    Budd A Tucker, Robert F Mullins ... Edwin M Stone
    Skin cells from a patient with retinitis pigmentosa have been used to generate induced pluripotent stem cells, which could potentially form the basis of new treatments for this disease.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    A family of fluoride-specific ion channels with dual-topology architecture

    Randy B Stockbridge, Janice L Robertson ... Christopher Miller
    Efflux of xenobiotic fluoride from microorganisms occurs through a novel family of ion channels with stringent selectivity for fluoride ion and dual-topology molecular architecture.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    ATP-dependent chromatin assembly is functionally distinct from chromatin remodeling

    Sharon E Torigoe, Ashok Patel ... James T Kadonaga
    The Chd1 motor protein performs two functionally distinct ATP-dependent activities, nucleosome assembly and chromatin remodeling, to generate periodic arrays of nucleosomes.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    APP interacts with LRP4 and agrin to coordinate the development of the neuromuscular junction in mice

    Hong Y Choi, Yun Liu ... Joachim Herz
    Proteins implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, including amyloid precursor protein and ApoE receptors, interact with each other and with a signalling molecule called agrin to influence the development of the neuromuscular junction.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Immunology and Inflammation

    MAVS recruits multiple ubiquitin E3 ligases to activate antiviral signaling cascades

    Siqi Liu, Jueqi Chen ... Zhijian J Chen
    A cell-free system combined with cell-based assays elucidate the biochemical mechanism of signal transduction mediated by the mitochondrial protein MAVS and delineates the role of ubiquitin E3 ligases in antiviral innate immune responses.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    A global change in RNA polymerase II pausing during the Drosophila midblastula transition

    Kai Chen, Jeff Johnston ... Julia Zeitlinger
    The first zygotic genes are transcribed without RNA polymerase II pausing from a TATA-enriched promoter.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    UNC-13L, UNC-13S, and Tomosyn form a protein code for fast and slow neurotransmitter release in Caenorhabditis elegans

    Zhitao Hu, Xia-Jing Tong, Joshua M Kaplan
    Long and short variants of a protein called UNC-13, assisted by another called Tomosyn, regulate the timing of synaptic vesicle release in C. elegans.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Mechanism of ubiquitin ligation and lysine prioritization by a HECT E3

    Hari B Kamadurai, Yu Qiu ... Brenda A Schulman
    Structural studies reveal the mechanism by which a HECT E3 ubiquitin ligase carries out E2-to-E3-to-substrate ubiquitin transfer and prioritizes target lysines for ubiquitination.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    The ER–Golgi intermediate compartment is a key membrane source for the LC3 lipidation step of autophagosome biogenesis

    Liang Ge, David Melville ... Randy Schekman
    A cell-free biochemical assay for protein lipidation identifies the ER–Golgi intermediate compartment as a key early station in the formation of an autophagosome.
    1. Developmental Biology

    Cellular resolution models for even skipped regulation in the entire Drosophila embryo

    Garth R Ilsley, Jasmin Fisher ... Nicholas M Luscombe
    A statistical model is able to predict patterns of gene expression output in Drosophila embryos using only the cellular concentrations of transcription factors as input.
    1. Cell Biology

    Single molecule imaging reveals a major role for diffusion in the exploration of ciliary space by signaling receptors

    Fan Ye, David K Breslow ... Maxence V Nachury
    Membrane receptor proteins move through primary cilia largely by passive diffusion rather than by active intraflagellar transport.