A genome-organizing protein that is present only in the olfactory system of mice has been found to orchestrate changes in the relative numbers of different odor-sensing neurons on the basis of how active these neurons are.
Preventing premature interactions between microtubules and protein-based structures called kinetochores ensures that chromosomes are segregated by meiosis rather than mitosis in reproductive cells.
Brian J Ferguson, Daniel S Mansur ... Geoffrey L Smith
Experiments in mice have shown than an enzyme that repairs broken DNA inside the nucleus also has a central role in the innate immune system because it is able to detect foreign DNA outside the nucleus.
A combination of cellular, biochemical, genetic and genomic techniques have revealed a new molecular player in the production of fat cells in mice, which could improve our understanding of obesity.
The ability of epithelial cells to distinguish between domains on opposing cell surfaces within a tissue, a property known as planar cell polarity, relies on proteins and protein complexes directing the traffic of signaling proteins to specific locations on the cell surface membrane.
The enzyme that collaborates with ubiquitin ligases to promote the release of defective polypeptides from stalled ribosomes in a process named ribosome-associated degradations has been identified as the ATPase Cdc48.
A protein complex that enables cells to transport substances across their membranes, and that typically consists of four subunits, can also function as two hemicomplexes, each with two subunits.
The use of tissue culture reduces the chemical modification of plant DNA, and this has lasting effects on gene expression in the plants and their descendants.
