Table of contents
From the editors
p381 | doi:10.1038/nrm1958
Research Highlights
Stem cells: Poised for action
p383 | doi:10.1038/nrm1948
Signal transduction: Understanding NEMO
p384 | doi:10.1038/nrm1944
Mechanisms of disease: Blame ROS
p384 | doi:10.1038/nrm1947
Cell division: Time to bud off
p385 | doi:10.1038/nrm1943
Circadian rhythms: Setting the clock
p386 | doi:10.1038/nrm1951
Nuclear pores: Two-sided approach
p386 | doi:10.1038/nrm1954
In the news
A new drug target?
p386 | doi:10.1038/nrm1957
Technology Watch
Lessening limitations | Cells in 3D
p387 | doi:10.1038/nrm1953
Protein folding: Handling the stress
p388 | doi:10.1038/nrm1955
Ageing: Age-old quest
p388 | doi:10.1038/nrm1956
Signal transduction: Adding a piece to the puzzle
p389 | doi:10.1038/nrm1950
In brief
Centromeres | Cell death | Autophagy
p389 | doi:10.1038/nrm1952
Reviews
Interpreting the protein language using proteomics
Ole N. Jensen
p391 | doi:10.1038/nrm1939
Post-translational modifications define the functional and structural plasticity of proteins in archaea, prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Combining state-of-the-art technologies in molecular cell biology, protein mass spectrometry and bioinformatics, it is now feasible to study the role of distinct protein post-translational modifications.
Harnessing actin dynamics for clathrin-mediated endocytosis
Marko Kaksonen, Christopher P. Toret & David G. Drubin
p404 | doi:10.1038/nrm1940
Polymerizing actin seems to provide the force for deforming and moving membranes at different steps of the endocytic pathway. Live-cell imaging is shedding light on the order and timing of the molecular events and mechanisms of actin function during endocytosis.
Early nonsense: mRNA decay solves a translational problem
Nadia Amrani, Matthew S. Sachs & Allan Jacobson
p415 | doi:10.1038/nrm1942
The nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway ensures that mRNAs that harbour premature termination, or nonsense, codons are targeted for rapid degradation. New insights into the process of NMD have provided unexpected glimpses of the complexity of translation termination.
Article series: Mechanisms of disease
Mechanisms of disease: New insights into cystic fibrosis: molecular switches that regulate CFTR
William B. Guggino & Bruce A. Stanton
p426 | doi:10.1038/nrm1949
Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a Cl--ion channel, assembles into dynamic macromolecular complexes. Understanding how these complexes regulate the intracellular trafficking and activity of CFTR provides a unique insight into the aetiology of cystic fibrosis and other diseases.
Chromatin remodelling: the industrial revolution of DNA around histones
Anjanabha Saha, Jacqueline Wittmeyer & Bradley R. Cairns
p437 | doi:10.1038/nrm1945
Different chromatin remodellers affect the nucleosome structure in different ways. However, a model that is based on the fact that all remodellers have a catalytic ATPase subunit that resembles known DNA-translocating motor proteins indicates that remodellers function as directional DNA translocases.
Perspectives
Innovation
Visualization of molecular interactions by fluorescence complementation
Tom K. Kerppola
p449 | doi:10.1038/nrm1929
The visualization of protein complexes in living cells enables the investigation of molecular interactions in their native environment. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation analysis has been used to visualize protein interactions and modifications in different cell types and species.
Opinion
Lipid rafts: contentious only from simplistic standpoints
John F. Hancock
p456 | doi:10.1038/nrm1925
Lipid rafts, if they exist in resting cell membranes, are too small to be resolved by fluorescent microscopy and have no defined ultrastructure. However, recent studies with model membranes, computational modelling and innovative cell-biology techniques have provided new insights into plasma-membrane micro-organization.
