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Volume 5 Issue 5, May 2003

Cross-section through the developing murine Organ of Corti (at E18.5). p27kip1 expression is shown in the supporting cells (red), whereas the hair cells are stained for myosin VIIa (green). Cover design: Karen Moore

Volume 5 Issue 5

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Editorial

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News & Views

  • The ubiquitin-dependent N-end rule pathway targets proteins for degradation through their destabilizing N-terminal residues. This pathway is known to control the import of peptides, chromosome stability and cardiovascular development. A new report identifies yet another function of the N-end rule pathway: the regulation of apoptosis through degradation of Drosophila melanogaster DIAP1.

    • Alexander Varshavsky
    News & Views

  • Sprouty proteins are antagonists of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signalling in a number of developmental and physiological processes. A collection of work indicates that Sprouty proteins negatively and positively modulate RTK-induced signalling pathways through various mechanisms, thereby combining a variety of cellular functions in one molecule.

    • Gerhard Christofori
    News & Views

  • A distinguishing feature of meiosis is a reductional division where homologous chromosomes — rather than sister chromatids — are pulled to opposite poles. Polo-like kinase (Plk), a prominent regulator of mitotic progression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is also crucial in regulating chromosome and chromatid separation during meiosis.

    • Yoshinori Watanabe
    News & Views

  • Some cell-surface receptors activate downstream signal transduction pathways not only from the cell surface but also from endosomes, suggesting that signalling pathways can be regulated by compartmentalization. A further twist is that different internalization routes seem to predetermine whether transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) receptors will trigger a signalling response or be degraded.

    • Michela Felberbaum-Corti
    • Françoise Gisou Van Der Goot
    • Jean Gruenberg
    News & Views

  • Hearing loss in mammals occurs when auditory hair cells, specialized in the detection of sound waves, undergo irreversible damage. However, the mechanism, and in particular the genetic basis of the process, is poorly understood. A study in this issue now shows that functional inactivation of the cyclin D-dependent kinase inhibitor Ink4d results in progressive hearing loss in mice, implicating Cdk inhibitors and inappropriate hair cell proliferation in deafness.

    • Bridget Baumgartner
    • J. Wade Harper
    News & Views

  • Chromosome organization in the interphase nucleus is largely regarded to be non-random. However, the exact nature of this non-randomness and the mechanism for conveying positional information to daughter nuclei is a subject of intense debate, as two recent studies reveal.

    • Ruth R. E. Williams
    • Amanda G. Fisher
    News & Views

  • Experiments in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have shown that the enzyme Set1 preferentially targets the 5′ coding regions of transcriptionally active genes, where it catalyses di- and tri-methylation of histone H3 Lys 4. This methylation mark is retained after transcription has subsided, suggesting that it provides a memory of recent transcription.

    • Bryan M. Turner
    News & Views
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Meeting Report

  • Chromatin architecture is modulated by a large number of enzymes, resulting in the proper regulation of transcription, replication, cell cycle progression, DNA repair, recombination and chromosome segregation. The structure, regulation and coordination of these enzymatic activities were the main topics of discussion at The Enzymology of Chromatin and Transcription Keystone Symposium held in Santa Fe, NM (March 10–16, 2003).

    • Mariela Jaskelioff
    • Craig L. Peterson
    Meeting Report
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