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Considered and critical assessment of a manuscript is essential to peer review and the publication process, but what makes a good referee report? We highlight the central elements of the ideal referee report.
The interior of the eukaryotic cell nucleus is populated by a multitude of microscopic domains termed nuclear bodies. Despite having attracted much attention, how these compartments form and are maintained remained elusive. Now, two live-cell imaging studies provide compelling evidence that nascent RNAs can act as transiently immobilized scaffolds that recruit specific nuclear body proteins.
In the mouse embryo, the first differences between cells that result in distinct lineages have long been thought to arise only as a consequence of differential cell positioning at relatively late preimplantation stages. Differences in Oct4 transcription factor kinetics between cells at the 4–8-cell stage are now shown to be predictive of future lineages, providing further evidence for much earlier initiation of cell fate decisions.
Very little is known about the role of transcription factors DNA-binding dynamics in defining development and pluriotency. Cells in the early mouse embryo display two classes of Oct4 kinetics that define two subpopulations of cells with distinct lineage potential.
Brassinosteroids trigger a receptor kinase-mediated signalling pathway to modulate plant development through the dephosphorylation of the BZR transcription factors, which are normally kept inactive by the kinase BIN2. The phosphatase PP2A is now found to be responsible for the dephosphorylation of BZR to trigger the signalling cascade.
A molecular mechanism that links the mTOR and autophagy pathways is now revealed. Depending on nutrient availability, the AMPK and mTOR kinases differentially phosphorylate the autophagy-initiating kinase Ulk1 to regulate its activity.
REST transcription factor is a master regulator of neural stem and progenitor cells, which is subjected to ubiquitylation-mediated proteasomal degradation during differentiation. In progenitor cells, degradation is inhibited by the action of the deubiquitylase enzyme HAUSP to prevent untimely neuronal differentiation.
The cellular mechanisms that modulate morphogen gradient interpretation in tissue have been debated. In vivo fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and automated image analysis show that modulation of endocytic trafficking affects FGF8 target-gene expression without an effect on the FGF8 gradient itself.
p114RhoGEF promotes RhoA activation at epithelial junctions. The junctional adaptor cingulin recruits p114RhoGEF to junctions, where it regulates junction formation through RhoA, Rock II and myosin II.
Mammalian nuclear bodies are involved in various aspects of nuclear function and contain RNAs. Tethering of specific RNA transcripts to a genomic location allows de novo assembly of the nuclear bodies that normally contain these transcripts.
