A biophysically principled algorithm can build quantitative models of protein-DNA binding specificity of unprecedented accuracy from a leading type of high-throughput in vitro binding data.
In humans, specific sequence features can predict whether meiotic recombination occurs at sites bound by the protein PRDM9, whose DNA-binding zinc-finger domain can unexpectedly bind to gene promoters and to other copies of PRDM9.
Drosophila has almost all transcription factor binding specificities available to humans; and human transcription factors with divergent specificities operate in cell types that are not found in fruit flies.
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.
The findings have a major impact in understanding the different reward systems involved in two types of addictive behavior, and these advances have implications for prevention and treatment.
Class-A penicillin-binding proteins are dispensable for rod-like cell-shape but essential for mechanical integrity by sensing and repairing cell-wall defects locally, as investigated in the model system Escherichia coli.
Crystal structures of Nanos bound to Pumilio and target RNAs demonstrate how Nanos forms a molecular clamp to alter Pumilio RNA regulation and specificity in embryonic development and germline maintenance.
The RNA-binding protein polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 1 (PTBP1) is essential for B cell development at the pro-B cell stage where it suppresses S-phase entry and promotes progression through mitosis.
