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Cryo-electron microscopy of brain tissue from two individuals with Down syndrome showed amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau filaments identical to those found in individuals with sporadic or dominantly inherited Alzheimer disease (AD), but also two types of Aβ40 filaments with distinct structures different from those previously reported in AD and cerebral amyloid angiopathy.
Here, using cryo-EM, authors reveal that amyloid-β and tau are identical in Alzheimer disease and Down syndrome. This has implications for assessing whether adults with Down syndrome could be included in Alzheimer disease clinical trials.
The identification of sodium and potassium currents as underlying action potential propagation, more than 70 years ago, opened a new avenue of research into the role of ion channels. In this Comment, we present our personal perspectives of the field, from the identification of Shaker as a potential potassium channel to the mechanistic insights available to us today.
Here, four cryo-EM structures of Mtb OppABCD reveal an assembly of a cluster C substrate-binding protein and its translocator, as well as the [4Fe–4S] cluster-regulated transport mechanism of oligopeptide permeases found in bacteria.
Precise protein synthesis is achieved by tRNA modifications. Here the authors revealed that modified cytidines in tRNAIle use their long side chains to make additional interactions with mRNA for stable tRNA binding on the ribosome.
Rybak and Gagnon elucidate the mechanism of AUG codon avoidance by the minor isoleucine tRNA in Escherichia coli. The lysidinylated C34 in the anticodon loop of tRNAIle weakens interactions with the mRNA and destabilizes the EF-Tu ternary complex.
Transcription of toxin–antitoxin modules is regulated by conditional cooperativity, where the toxin enables or disrupts antitoxin-driven repression. Here, the authors solve the structural basis for the conditional cooperativity of Salmonella TacAT3.
Cryo-EM studies reveal that RYBP–PRC1 uses two distinct interfaces for binding unmodified and H2Aub1-modified nucleosomes. These binding modes enable the complex to generate H2Aub1 chromatin domains by a read–write mechanism.
In addition to the usual dose of compelling science, our March issue features thoughtful reflections on the last 30 years from readers, as well as past and present editors. Perhaps influenced by these pieces or by our stunning cover — or maybe it is just the changing seasons — we are in an introspective mood this month.
Over the past 30 years, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (NSMB) has covered an enormous breadth of subjects in the broad field of molecular and structural biology. Here, some of the journal’s past and present editors recount their editorial experience at NSMB and some of the more memorable papers they worked on.
In this Review, the authors present an overview of our current understanding of the relationship between DNA methylation and three-dimensional chromatin architecture, discussing the extent to which DNA methylation may regulate the folding of the genome.
Examining artificial embryos (gastruloids), Merle et al. uncover precise gene organization and proportional growth, providing insights into fundamental principles of developmental processes in mammalian systems.
The DNA polymerase α–primase complex undergoes dramatic configurational rearrangements to synthesize chimeric RNA-DNA primers across two separate active sites while maintaining simultaneous interactions at opposite ends of the primer–template duplex.
Over the past 30 years, the field of structural biology and its associated biological insights have seen amazing progress. In this Comment, I recount several milestones in the field and how we can apply lessons from the past toward an exciting future, especially as it relates to drug discovery.
The biogenesis and recycling of the ‘heart’ of the human spliceosome, the U5 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP), requires CD2BP2 and TSSC4. Here the authors present cryo-electron microscopy structures that reveal how these protein chaperones orchestrate the ATP-independent (re)generation of the U5 snRNP.
Here, the authors determine the structure of the human outer kinetochore KMN network complex, showing that it forms an extended and rigid rod-like structure and that it exists in an auto-inhibited state which can be relieved by phosphorylation.
During cell division, kinetochores anchor chromosomes to spindle microtubules. Here, the authors report a comprehensive structure–function analysis of the kinetochore’s main microtubule receptor, the KMN network, shedding new light on its organization.