Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Volume 32 Issue 4, December 2002

Artist: Sam Maitin Referred by Larry A. Donoso(of Wills Eye Hospital,Philadelphia, USA)

Volume 32 Issue 4

Subscribe

Editorial

Top of page ⤴

News & Views

  • Enhancer elements act from distal regions to mediate the transcription of genes. A novel combination of FISH and ChIP techniques may provide new insight into the mechanism by which enhancer elements exert their control. Application of the technique to the Hbb (encoding β-globin) locus control region (LCR) suggests that elements of the LCR may be in close proximity to the transcribed β-globin genes.

    • Michael Bulger
    • Mark Groudine
    News & Views

  • Pluripotent stem cells are essential for embryonic development and regeneration of adult tissues. But when the molecular pathways that control stem cells go awry, the result can often be the development of tumors. Wnt signaling mediated by the intracellular transducer β-catenin and the tumor suppressor APC (adenomatosis polyposis coli) is pivotal in embryogenesis and frequently associated with cancer. The investigation of different mutations in Apc that lead to increased levels of β-catenin in pluripotent cells supports the notion that many cancers may result from the dysregulation of stem-cell programs.

    • Joshua M. Brickman
    • Thomas G. Burdon
    News & Views

  • A new study identifies a cell-autonomous two-hour clock in diverse types of mammalian cells in culture. The two-hour oscillations depend on negative feedback of a gene product, Hes1, on transcription of its own gene—a regulatory mechanism that is identical to the circadian clock. Although a similar two-hour clock is required for vertebrate somitogenesis, the physiological role of the two-hour clock in cells remains unclear.

    • Michael N. Nitabach
    • Justin Blau
    News & Views

  • For DNA replication to proceed through heterochromatin, the replication machinery must negotiate the highly condensed chromatin. A new study shows that an ACF1–ISWI chromatin remodeling complex is required for the replication of pericentromeric heterochromatin. This complex may act to unravel chromatin structure in these regions of the genome, thereby permiting movement of the replication fork.

    • Ivana L. de la Serna
    • Anthony N. Imbalzano
    News & Views

  • L1 retrotransposition is ongoing, and has dramatically affected the evolution and structure of mammalian genomes. Despite their impact on the genome, little is known about when, where or how frequently L1s retrotranspose in vivo. The establishment of a mouse model of human L1 retrotransposition is a major step toward answering these questions.

    • Jyoti N. Athanikar
    • Tammy A. Morrish
    • John V. Moran
    News & Views
Top of page ⤴

Book Review

Top of page ⤴

Progress

Top of page ⤴

Brief Communication

Top of page ⤴

Article

Top of page ⤴

Letter

Top of page ⤴

Corrigendum

Top of page ⤴

Supplement

  • These reviews outline the use of microarrays in elucidating genome organization and development, aiding in the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer, and in the selection of drug targets, as well as how to design experiments, weed out noise, analyze data and validate results.

    Supplement
Top of page ⤴

Search

Advanced search

Quick links