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Type I interferon (IFN) signaling is critical for intracellular antimicrobial programmes, affecting both innate and adaptive immune responses. The paper recently published in Cell demonstrates a new regulatory mechanism of the type I IFN signaling pathway by histone-lysine N-methyltransferase SETD2.
New plant type (NPT) or ideal plant architecture (IPA) is an attractive way of increasing yield potential by promoting high resource use efficiency combined with better lodging resistance. In a recent paper in Cell Research, Wang et al. describe how a QTL they identified could bring about the desired NPT architecture by elucidating the role of its encoded gene in controlling the stability of IPA1/OsSPL14, a previously reported NPT protein, in the context of ubiquitination.
The plant hormone strigolactone (SL) is important for many processes in plants, but its molecular mode of action has been difficult to elucidate. A new discovery has identified the SPL transcription factor, IPA1, as a crucial component directly involved in SL signaling.
A recent study led by Professor Rob Martienssen in Cell showed that 3′-tRNA-derived small RNAs can suppress long terminal repeat retrotransposon activity in mammalian cells by mechanisms independent of DNA-associated epigenetic marks, suggesting how the genome may defend itself from retrotransposon invasion during epigenetic reprogramming.
SMADs are essential transcriptional effectors of transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ)/TGFβ-related signaling that underlies embryonic development and adult homeostasis. A recent study by Fang et al. in Cell Research adds to this biological complexity by demonstrating an atypical cytoplasmic role for SMAD5 in modulating the bioenergetic homeostasis (i.e., glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration) of cells in response to fluctuations in intracellular pH that is independent of receptor signaling.