Journal Clubs in 2021

Appreciation of intrinsically disordered regions of proteins is not a novel phenomenon: Frixione and Ruiz-Zamarripa recollect that they were discussed already in the mid-twentieth century.

Prachee Avasthi highlights how a 1969 study by Rosenbaum and colleagues on Chlamydomonas provided a framework for the understanding of the structure and function of cilia.

Meng Wang discusses the importance of early studies that led to the discovery of genes that regulate longevity.

Izabela Sumara highlights the work by Beck and colleagues that identified a pathway for the biogenesis of nuclear pore complexes, which involves annulate lamellae and biomolecular condensates containing nucleoporins.

Elif Nur Firat-Karalar brings to our attention the early works by Sergei Sorokin that paved the way for research into the biogenesis and function of primary cilia.

Jenna Jewell discusses two papers that spearheaded the work towards understanding amino acid sensing by mTORC1.

Krista Varady discusses two seminal papers on intermittent fasting that inspired her to enter this research area.

Samira Musah highlights work by Puelles et al. investigating multi-organ affinity of SARS-CoV-2 and its high infectivity of the kidneys.

Roukos and Longo recount the findings of two 1982 papers, which proved that chromosomes and spaghetti are not alike.

Sunil Laxman highlights the 1987 discovery of cyclic-di-GMP, which prompted scientists to rethink the concept of ‘unicellular’ and the impact of cell signalling.

Nicolas Papon highlights the work by Kakimoto and colleagues that led to the identification of the cytokinin receptor in plants — 20 years ago.

Juan Tosar recalls how two papers published in 2011 changed his perception of RNA fragility.

Guillaume Tcherkez recounts the hard choices of RuBisCo, the most abundant enzyme on Earth.

Sara Wickström draws attention to the pioneering work of Watt, Jordan and O’Neill on the role of cell shape in the regulation of stem cells.

An Hendrix reminisces on the early work demonstrating the prevalence and heterogeneity of extracellular vesicles.

Constance Ciaudo tells us about two articles that changed her perception of microRNA biogenesis proteins.

Tatjana Trcek recounts the discovery of RNA phase separation, going back more than half a century.

Monika Fuxreiter discusses recent studies indicating that generic interactions that determine the biophysical properties of condensates are important for condensate function.

Alex Holehouse describes the contributions of Nott et al. to the understanding of the mechanisms of liquid–liquid phase separation.