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A switch in a train track symbolizes the switch in the conformation of OxyR to a metastable state. A rapid kinetic reaction path and the conformational strain induced by the formation of a disulfide bond, respectively, drive the oxidation and reduction of OxyR. pp 1179-1185
A recent international conference focused on Hsp90, a molecular chaperone that plays a critical role in a diverse array of cellular processes including the assembly and maturation of some important 'client' proteins, many of which are involved in signal transduction.
Three recent reports identify the roles of specific ribonucleases necessary for efficient termination of transcription by RNA polymerase II. In one case, the primary cleavage event is carried out by a ribozyme encoded in the pre-mRNA itself.
Organisms such as yeast and humans are capable of both nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR), but bacteria have typically been assumed to be capable only of HR. A recent study shows that mycobacteria accomplish NHEJ using just two proteins (homologs of the eukaryotic Ku and DNA ligase IV), whereas eukaryotes require many factors.
Structural studies by the Ramakrishnan and Agris groups allow us to directly observe how the ribosome's decoding site accommodates non-Watson-Crick base pairs in the third position of the codon-anticodon triplet while maintaining the one-amino-acid-per-codon framework that is central to life.
Certain pathogens and bacterial toxins exhibit exquisite host specificity, the determinants of which often remain mysterious. A recent report shows that the human specificity of the pore-forming toxin intermedilysin (ILY), a member of the cholesterol-dependent cytolysins (CDCs), is due to its specific interaction with the human cluster of differentiation protein CD59.
The research in biology has been transformed by the products of interdisciplinary research. Here we explore why it is challenging for universities to bring biologists together with engineers, physicists and computer scientists for productive collaboration, and we evaluate alternative solutions. In particular, we describe how the new Janelia Farm Research Campus of Howard Hughes Medical Institute aims to provide a home for creative scientists from different disciplines to attack major biomedical research problems.