The identification of four acidic amino acids as potential calcium-binding residues in the TMEM16A calcium-activated chloride channel furthers the molecular understanding of this ion channel family.
Maps defining environmental risk of the leishmaniases provide insights into the ecology of these diseases and identify regions to target public health measures and inform future burden estimates.
Mice that viewed a visual stimulus whilst running showed recovery of the neuronal responses that had been lost due to early visual deprivation, with potential relevance for amblyopia.
Laura Dean Heckman, Maria H Chahrour, Huda Y Zoghbi
Transgenic mice with Rett-causing mutations in MeCP2 reveal that a basic cluster in the C-terminus of the protein binds DNA and that both the methyl-CpG binding domain and the transcriptional repression domain are necessary to elicit toxicity in MECP2 duplication syndrome.
Novel virus-host systems yield insights into how Lepidopterans (moths and butterflies) combat RNA virus infection and reveal that poxvirus A51R proteins can suppress the host's immune system and stabilize microtubules in host cells.
Jeffrey I Boucher, Joseph R Jacobowitz ... Douglas L Theobald
The convergent evolution of unusually strict substrate specificity in apicomplexan LDHs arose by classic neofunctionalization of a duplicated MDH gene via few mutations of large effect.
Sarah E Zanders, Michael T Eickbush ... Harmit Singh Malik
Rapid acquisition of chromosome rearrangements, together with independently acting transmission distorter alleles on each chromosome, drive near complete sterility in fission yeast hybrids.
Retrieval enhances fear memory through reconsolidation by activating calcineurin-induced protein degradation and CREB-mediated gene expression in amygdala, hippocampus, and mPFC.
Well-preserved fossils reveal an extreme morphological specialization of fly larvae, and broaden our understanding of the diversity of ectoparasitism in Mesozoic insects.
Analysis of neurons that lack the two neuronal dynamins, dynamin 1 and 3, demonstrates a pathway of synaptic vesicle reformation that does not require these two dynamins or clathrin-dependent budding.
Studying the earliest events in B cell activation reveals that the B cell antigen receptor is opened and activated via the phosphorylation and binding by the spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk).
The GEF activity of Rabex-5 is weakly autoinhibited by its CC domain and activated by Rabaptin-5 and the two proteins work concertedly to activate Rab5.
Johanna Liinamaria Syrjänen, Luca Pellegrini, Owen Richard Davies
A structural and biochemical study of human SYCP3 provides the first molecular model for the three-dimensional organisation that is imposed upon chromosomal DNA during meiosis and is essential for genetic exchange and fertility.
Functional attachments between muscles and tendons require pentameric Thrombospondin-4, revealing novel roles both as an integrin ligand and extracellular matrix scaffold.
In addition to its cytoplasmic role for translation, the seryl-tRNA synthetase also antagonizes the c-Myc transcription factor in the nucleus to transcriptionally repress the growth factor VEGFA and ensure proper development of the vasculature in vertebrates.
A few circadian ‘evening’ neurons within the Drosophila brain play a key role in driving activity as well as keeping time, whereas the well-known PDF-containing morning cells are likely involved in integrating and transmitting light information.
Benjamin R Macadangdang, Amit Oberai ... Siavash K Kurdistani
The N-terminal domain in histone 2A serves as an evolutionary tool to enable greater chromatin compaction when genome size is disproportionately larger than the nuclear volume across eukaryotes.
Metabolic exaptation of an anaplerotic nitrogen cycle between bundle sheath and mesophyll cells may explain the remarkably frequent convergent evolution of C4 photosynthesis.
Carina C Clingman, Laura M Deveau ... Sean P Ryder
The RNA-binding protein MSI1, which is required for stem cell and cancer cell proliferation in the brain and epithelial tissues, also directly senses the concentration of long non-esterified omega-9 fatty acids.
Midbrain dopaminergic neurons and a cortex-like structure called the arcopallium form part of a circuit that enables young songbirds to compare their own song with a template stored in memory, and use any discrepancies to improve their performance.
The transcription factor Pou3f1 triggers embryonic stem cells to become neuronal progenitor cells in two ways: by activating the expression of pro-neuronal genes and by blocking external inhibitory signaling cascades.
Jan Drugowitsch, Gregory C DeAngelis ... Alexandre Pouget
Through a combination of modeling and experiments it is shown that humans can near-optimally accumulate decision-related evidence across time and cues even when reaction time is under their control.
Ignacio Izeddin, Vincent Récamier ... Xavier Darzacq
While the transcription factor c-Myc explores the space in the nucleus in an unrestricted manner, the elongation factor P-TEFb's sampling of the nucleus is constrained to a complex domain with fractal characteristics.
Smurf1 and Smurf2 have essential functions in the mammalian Shh signaling pathway, binding to and ubiquitylating Patched1, leading to its endocytosis and subsequent degradation in lysosomes.
Animal-to-animal variability in neural circuit elements is often hidden under normal conditions, but becomes functionally relevant when the system is challenged by injury.
A systematic comparison of experimentally measured and theoretically predicted magnitudes of organelle abundance fluctuations suggests that budding yeast produces the maximum level of variability in organelle abundance that can be generated by organelle biogenesis pathways.
In nematode worms, the length of the male refractory period–the time between matings–is regulated by multiple transmitters including dopamine, which both promotes ejaculation and reduces the activity of males post-copulation.
The molecular mechanism behind how emetine inhibits the ribosome of the human malaria parasite, along with structural details of the complex formed, is revealed at high resolution using cryo-electron microscopy.
Metabolite analysis of plasma from enteric fever patients define signals of organism specific host–pathogen interactions and provides opportunities for new diagnostics.
Two complexes that contain the histone acetyl transferase MOF have distinct regulatory roles in the growth and development of pluripotent embryonic stem cells
David W Dowdy, Jason R Andrews ... Robert H Gilman
A freely available computer program that takes into account specific local conditions enables users to predict the impact of adopting different diagnostic strategies on the spread of tuberculosis in their region.
Sakari Vanharanta, Christina B Marney ... Joan Massagué
Inactivation of a multifunctional RNA-binding protein can lead to the acquisition of pro-metastatic phenotypes, possibly by stabilizing large-scale transcriptomic changes that provide a selective advantage during cancer progression.
Genetic incompatibilities are common and widely distributed throughout the genomes of swordtail fish, and prevent the regions of the genome around them from being exchanged between different species.
Male and female mice respond differently to the same pheromone signals, and the representation of these sensory stimuli by neurons in the medial amygdala correlates precisely with the differences in behavior.
In the cytosol, the proteins constituting cell-matrix adhesion sites form multi-protein building blocks which enter and leave these sites unaltered, thereby contributing to their rapid and correct self-assembly.
Genetic rescue experiments reveal that γ-secretase enzymes containing Aph1b subunits control signalling by type III neuregulin 1, with implications for schizophrenia.
Tammy J Bullwinkle, Noah M Reynolds ... Michael Ibba
Translation quality control protects the cell from environmental stresses that could potentially lead to the toxic accumulation of non-proteinogenic amino acids in the proteome.
