Table of contents
May 2006 Vol 7 No 5
Reviews
At the heart of the chromosome: SMC proteins in action
Tatsuya Hirano
p311 | doi:10.1038/nrm1909
Structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) proteins are highly conserved ATPases that function in chromosome organization and dynamics. Their unique architecture provides insight into how these protein machines tether, fold and manipulate the genome in an ATP-dependent manner.
Regulation of DNA repair by ubiquitylation
Tony T. Huang and Alan D. D'Andrea
p323 | doi:10.1038/nrm1908
Recent studies have highlighted the crucial role of ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like modifications in the regulation of translesion DNA synthesis and various DNA-repair processes such as homologous recombination, nucleotide-excision repair and base-excision repair.
The multifaceted mismatch-repair system
Josef Jiricny
p335 | doi:10.1038/nrm1907
Mismatch repair improves the fidelity of DNA replication and affects recombination, DNA-damage signalling, apoptosis and certain cell-type-specific processes of DNA metabolism. Intriguingly, the same system that guards genomic instability on the one hand contributes to cell death on the other.
ARF proteins: roles in membrane traffic and beyond
Crislyn D'Souza-Schorey and Philippe Chavrier
p347 | doi:10.1038/nrm1910
ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) proteins regulate membrane trafficking and actin remodelling along the secretory and endocytic pathways. However, recent evidence has revealed that the function of ARF proteins can influence cellular processes such as phagocytosis, cell division and tumour-cell invasion.
VEGF receptor signalling — in control of vascular function
Anna-Karin Olsson, Anna Dimberg, Johan Kreuger and Lena Claesson-Welsh
p359 | doi:10.1038/nrm1911
Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) regulate vascular development during embryogenesis and angiogenesis in the adult. The recently developed cancer treatments that target VEGF receptor activation highlight the clinical relevance of inhibiting VEGF pathways that are exaggerated in pathological angiogenesis.
Perspectives
Opinion
Opinion: Lipid droplets: a unified view of a dynamic organelle
Sally Martin and Robert G. Parton
p373 | doi:10.1038/nrm1912
Lipid droplets are the main lipid store in eukaryotic cells. Although the term lipid droplet is widely used, a unified nomenclature is lacking. So, could the terminology be consolidated? And what recent developments have there been in the field of lipid droplets?
Essay
Women in cell biology: how personal lives shape careers
Fiona M. Watt
p378 | doi:10.1038/nrm1913
For successful women scientists, the only universal attribute is a passion for science. A woman's personal life can have an impact on her professional life in many different ways, but it seems that there is no standard formula for success.
