Table of contents
December 2007 Vol 8 No 12
From the editors
p939 | doi:10.1038/nrm2306
Research Highlights
Cell migration: Follow the leader! | PDF (179 KB)
p941 | doi:10.1038/nrm2302
Development: Purine to my eyes | PDF (122 KB)
p942 | doi:10.1038/nrm2300
DNA-damage response: Chewing at the ends | PDF (174 KB)
p942 | doi:10.1038/nrm2301
Cell migration: Invasion of the pseudopods | PDF (215 KB)
p943 | doi:10.1038/nrm2296
Cell cycle: Passengers travel together | PDF (303 KB)
p944 | doi:10.1038/nrm2294
In brief
Technology | Epigenetics | Lipid trafficking | Small RNAs | PDF (103 KB)
p945 | doi:10.1038/nrm2304
Tumorigenesis: Taking an alternative route | PDF (505 KB)
p945 | doi:10.1038/nrm2307
Web Watch
A map of mRNA localization | PDF (89 KB)
p946 | doi:10.1038/nrm2303
Development: Dancing the polonaise | PDF (152 KB)
p946 | doi:10.1038/nrm2305
Reviews
Concepts in sumoylation: a decade on
Ruth Geiss-Friedlander & Frauke Melchior
p947 | doi:10.1038/nrm2293
SUMO (small ubiquitin-related modifier) is a reversible post-translational protein modifier that causes molecular alterations in sumoylated target proteins, leading to changes in localization, activity and stability. In the past 10 years, mechanisms and principles that govern sumoylation have been elucidated.
Synergistic control of cell adhesion by integrins and syndecans
Mark R. Morgan, Martin J. Humphries & Mark D. Bass
p957 | doi:10.1038/nrm2289
Although integrins and syndecans are crucial for adhesion and multicellular existence, their relative and functional contributions to cell–extracellular matrix interactions remain obscure. However, evidence suggests that synergistic signalling between these adhesion-receptor families is central to their adhesive function, to regulation of cell behaviour and to avoidance of disease.
TGF
–SMAD signal transduction: molecular specificity and functional flexibility
Bernhard Schmierer & Caroline S. Hill
p970 | doi:10.1038/nrm2297
Transforming growth factor-
(TGF)-induced signalling converges on a limited number of SMAD complexes. These complexes effect a plethora of specific and functional responses in both embryos and adult organisms. How are these complex cellular responses elicited?
Multivalent engagement of chromatin modifications by linked binding modules
Alexander J. Ruthenburg, Haitao Li, Dinshaw J. Patel & C. David Allis
p983 | doi:10.1038/nrm2298
Histone post-translational modifications have crucial roles in genome management, in part by recruiting specific factors that alter the structural properties of chromatin. These so-called effector complexes often comprise multiple histone-binding modules that may act in concert to regulate chromatin structure and DNA-related activities.
Predicting protein function from sequence and structure
David Lee, Oliver Redfern & Christine Orengo
p995 | doi:10.1038/nrm2281
Given the amino-acid sequence or 3D structure of a protein, how much can we predict about its function using just a desktop computer? The recent explosive growth in the volume of sequence data and advancement in computational methods has put more tools at the biologist's disposal than ever before.
Structure, dynamics and functions of promyelocytic leukaemia nuclear bodies
Rosa Bernardi & Pier Paolo Pandolfi
p1006 | doi:10.1038/nrm2277
The PML tumour suppressor is necessary for the formation of dynamic nuclear organelles called promyelocytic leukaemia nuclear bodies (PML-NBs). Recent data suggest that different PML-NBs may regulate specific cellular functions according to their protein composition, their position in the nucleus and their mobility.
Perspective
Opinion
Cell evolution and the problem of membrane topology
Gareth Griffiths
p1018 | doi:10.1038/nrm2287
How the building blocks of life came together to form the first membranes and cells is perhaps the biggest unresolved question in biology. A major difference in several proposed models is whether the cytoplasm evolved inside or outside of a liposomal vesicle.
