●Fluorescent probes for proteolysis: tools for drug discovery. Neefjes, J. & Dantuma, N. P. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery January (2004) This review discusses the development of fluorescent probes that can be used to monitor the functioning of proteases under physiological conditions — a crucial aid to understanding the roles of these proteins in disease and in developing drugs to target their activity.

●Prevention of cervical cancer through papillomavirus vaccination. Frazer, I. H. Nature Reviews Immunology January (2004)

●Regulation of the c-Abl and Bcr–Abl tyrosine kinases. Hantschel, O. & Superti-Furga, G. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology January (2004) This review discusses recent insights into the structure and regulation of the c-Abl tyrosine kinase and its oncogenic counterpart, the Bcr–Abl fusion protein.

●Fibulins: physiological and disease perspectives. Argraves, W. S., Greene, L. M., Cooley, M. A. & Gallagher, W. M. EMBO Reports December (2003) This article reviews recent progress in understanding the functions of the fibulins — a recently recognized family of extracellular-matrix proteins that are misregulated in several human cancers.

●From polyploidy to aneuploidy, genome instability and cancer. Storchova, Z. & Pellman, D. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology January (2004)

●Lymphatic vasculature development. Oliver, G. Nature Reviews Immunology January (2004)

●Taking apart a cancer protein. Scaglioni, P. P. & Pandolfi, P. P. Nature 4 December (2003) Acute promyelocytic leukaemia (APL) is caused by a chromosomal translocation that results in the fusion of the genes encoding promyelocytic leukaemia (PML) and retinoic-acid receptor-α (RARα). This News and Views article highlights new work indicating that cleavage of the resulting PML–RARα protein by the neutrophil elastase enzyme is required for the development of APL.

●The IKK NF-κB system: a treasure trove for drug development. Karin, M., Yamamoto, Y. & Wang, Q. M. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery January (2004) Aberrant activation of the transcription factor NF-κB is associated with several cancers and autoimmune diseases. This review discusses recent progress that has been made in the development of drugs that inhibit NF-κB activation.