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Tie receptors and their angiopoietin ligands have important functions during embryonic vessel assembly and maturation, and control adult vascular homeostasis. The structural characteristics and the spatio-temporal regulation of these receptors and ligands provide important insights into their functions.
The nuclear envelope is a dynamic structure that is disassembled and reassembled during 'open' mitosis in higher eukaryotes. These mitotic changes are subject to both spatial and temporal control mechanisms that are embedded in the more general regulatory network that directs cell division.
Epigenetic inheritance concerns the mechanisms that ensure the transmission of epigenetic marks from mother to daughter cell. Chromatin modifications and nuclear organization are candidate epigenetic marks — whether they fulfil the criterion of heritability and what mechanisms ensure their propagation is an area of intensive research.
The proper establishment of the skin barrier during embryogenesis and its maintenance during adult homeostasis is crucial for survival. Interestingly, the molecular mechanisms that govern embryonic development of the epidermis are reused during adult life to regulate skin homeostasis.
ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are responsible for the ATP-powered translocation of many substrates across membranes. Structural similarities support a common mechanism by which ABC transporters, both importers and exporters, couple the binding and hydrolysis of ATP to substrate translocation.
Maintenance of organ homeostasis and control of appropriate responses to environmental alterations requires the coordination of cellular functions and tissue organization. This coordination could be achieved by proteins that can have distinct but linked functions on both sides of the plasma membrane.