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The origin of the coronary vessels remains a mystery. Here we discuss recent studies that address this puzzle, including new work by Tian et al. recently published in Cell Research.
A cyclic dinucleotide comprised of GMP and AMP was previously shown to be a key intermediate during activation of innate immune responses to cytosolic DNA. A report by Patel and Tuschl groups published in Cell reveals the structure of the enzyme involved in the synthesis of this second messenger and identifies this cyclic dinucleotide as a unique compound in metazoan cell signaling.
Each subunit of voltage-gated cation channels comprises a voltage-sensing domain and a pore region. In a paper recently published in Cell Research, Li et al. showed that the gating charge pathway of the voltage sensor of the KCNQ2 K+ channel can accommodate small opener molecules and offer a new target to treat hyperexcitability disorders.
A novel coronavirus, the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, recently emerged through zoonotic transmission, causing a severe lower respiratory tract infection in humans. In two recent papers, one published in Cell Research, the crystal structure of the viral receptor-binding domain in complex with the host CD26/dipeptidyl peptidase 4 receptor has now been characterized.
In addition to canonical cis splicing, which joins exons from a single pre-mRNA, various forms of trans splicing have been described, whereby two separate precursor transcripts are linked with each other. A new study by Hu et al. in Cell Research characterizes a novel and unusual splicing variation, called exo-endo trans splicing.
Sirtuins have received a lot of attention in biological functions associated with metabolism, survival development, and most recently, neurodegeneration. The versatile role of sirtuins can be readily redirected for drug discovery studies for novel treatment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as presented in this highlight, by sirtuin-mediated ketogenic responses influencing mitochondrial function.
