Table of contents
From the editors
p91 | doi:10.1038/nrm2118
Research Highlights
Cell migration: Chemical detectors or polarity cues?
p93 | doi:10.1038/nrm2111
Organelle biogenesis: The building blocks of the secretory pathway
p94 | doi:10.1038/nrm2103
Gene expression: A silent pas de deux
p94 | doi:10.1038/nrm2108
Cytoskeleton: Tracking the weakest link
p94 | doi:10.1038/nrm2110
Cell division: Sensor of tension gets honourable mention
p96 | doi:10.1038/nrm2113
P53: Solving a MYSTery
p96 | doi:10.1038/nrm2117
Nuclear transport: A universal or cargo-selective transport company?
p97 | doi:10.1038/nrm2109
In the news
Silent mutations turn up the volume
p98 | doi:10.1038/nrm2102
Cell cycle: A centrosome-integrity checkpoint
p98 | doi:10.1038/nrm2107
Stem cells: Avoiding commitment
p99 | doi:10.1038/nrm2115
Reviews
Article series: Mechanisms of disease
Soluble protein oligomers in neurodegeneration: lessons from the Alzheimer's amyloid 
-peptide
Christian Haass and Dennis J. Selkoe
p101 | doi:10.1038/nrm2101
Certain neurodegenerative disorders are characterized by the progressive accumulation of insoluble deposits of misfolded proteins. Amyloid 
-protein (A) oligomers affect synaptic structure and plasticity in Alzheimer's disease, and recent findings in other neurodegenerative diseases indicate that a broadly similar process of neuronal dysfunction is induced by diffusible oligomers of misfolded proteins.
The highways and byways of mRNA decay
Nicole L. Garneau, Jeffrey Wilusz and Carol J. Wilusz
p113 | doi:10.1038/nrm2104
Turnover of mRNA is a key mechanism in regulated gene expression. In addition to turnover pathways for normal transcripts, there are surveillance mechanisms that degrade aberrant mRNAs. mRNA decay is regulated in response to cellular signals and coordinated with other mRNA-metabolic processes.
Motoring along with the bacterial RecA protein
Michael M. Cox
p127 | doi:10.1038/nrm2099
The bacterial RecA protein promotes a number of DNA transactions that feature the complete strand separation of hundreds of base pairs, or the efficient unidirectional movement of a DNA branch over thousands of base pairs. These reactions require ATP hydrolysis, which makes RecA a motor protein.
Post-translational modifications regulate the ticking of the circadian clock
Monica Gallego and David M. Virshup
p139 | doi:10.1038/nrm2106
Getting a good night's sleep is on everyone's to-do list. Recent insights into the role of post-translational modifications now highlight how our timepieces are controlled and provide clues as to how we might be able to manipulate them.
Multiple levels of cyclin specificity in cell-cycle control
Joanna Bloom and Frederick R. Cross
p149 | doi:10.1038/nrm2105
In budding yeast, multiple cyclins activate a single cyclin-dependent kinase to control progression through the cell cycle. Different mechanisms of cyclin specificity are thought to be important for the correct order and timing of cell-cycle events.
Perspectives
Opinion
Microtubule-organizing centres: a re-evaluation
Jens Lüders and Tim Stearns
p161 | doi:10.1038/nrm2100
Recent findings challenge the view that 
-tubulin-dependent formation of new microtubules is restricted to conventional microtubule-organizing centres and indicate that the spatio-temporal control of microtubule nucleation is more complex than was previously thought. So, how, where and when are microtubules made?
Innovation
Towards the plant metabolome and beyond
Robert L. Last, A. Daniel Jones and Yair Shachar-Hill
p167 | doi:10.1038/nrm2098
Plant metabolomics — the high-throughput analysis of plant compounds — is an invaluable tool for understanding plant metabolism. Recent innovations in mass-spectrometry-based analyses are shedding light on the structure and regulation of biosynthetic pathways and the temporal and spatial dynamics of the plant metabolome.
