DNA-bound crystal structures of an essential Xer site-specific recombinase from the bacterium Helicobacter pylori reveal how large conformational changes initiate the untangling of chromosomes upon cell division.

During the second postnatal week, a temporary circuit made up of specific types of neurons plus the precursors of oligodendrocytes is established in the brain, and may promote the maturation of oligodendrocytes in preparation for myelination.

The dorsal telencephalon (pallium) in medaka fish accommodates an epigenetically distinct brain area that selectively regulates unique set of synaptic genes compared to the surrounding pallial region, providing insights into the evolution of the pallium in vertebrate.

Computational modeling of a central decision neuron of Drosophila reveals an electrotonically compact architecture that is ideally suited to support efficient memory storage within a stochastically connected memory circuit.

The structure of the recombination complex responsible for flagellar antigen switching in Salmonella enterica, and the mechanism that regulates the site-specific DNA inversion reaction, have been determined.

A model for synchronous neurotransmitter release suggests that when not in the presence of calcium ions, Synaptotagmin proteins form ring-like structures between the vesicle and plasma membrane that prevent spontaneous fusion.

Simulations of a detailed network model show that the pattern of synaptic interactions resulting from learning is critical for the emergence of population bursts, sequential neuronal activity, and fast oscillations in the hippocampus.

Conditional knockout of the small GTPase Cdc42 in excitatory neurons of the mouse forebrain leads to impaired long-term synaptic plasticity and impaired retrieval of remote memory.

TCR and CD40L microclusters are linked in synaptic ectosomes (extracellular vesicles) and released in the immunological synapse by helper T cells and induce dendritic cell maturation and cytokine production.

Crystal structures of synaptic recognition molecules Sidekick-1 and -2 reveal a single homodimer interaction mode responsible for both cell-cell recognition and cis-clustering, suggesting that competition between cis and trans interactions may be critical to specificity.