Volume 29 Issue 7, July 2022

Structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) complexes such as condensin regulate chromosome organization by extruding loops. A new study uses single-molecule imaging of condensin on supercoiled DNA to understand how condensins navigate the under- and overwound DNA states common throughout the genome.

Multiple cryo-EM structures of human glycogen synthase reveal the basis of inhibition by phosphorylation and allosteric activation by glucose-6-phosphate.

This study uncovers a new mechanism linking oxidative stress to telomere-driven senescence. A common oxidative lesion at telomeres causes rapid premature cellular aging by inducing telomere fragility, rather than telomere shortening.

Atomic-resolution structures of an important antifungal target, chitin synthase 2, from a pathogenic fungus, Candida albicans, reveal a unique domain-swapped dimeric assembly and provide insights into the mechanism of antifungal action.

Here authors visualize dynamics GAGA pioneer factor (GAF) association with chromatin in vivo in Drosophila hemocytes. The characterization of GAF kinetics provides a temporal mechanism for maintenance of open chromatin for transcriptional responses to homeostatic, environmental and developmental signals.

This comprehensive study of the most enigmatic serotonin receptor 5-HT_5AR includes lots of pharmacological investigations, inactive and active state structures with antagonist, partial agonist and full agonists. Also, a highly potent and selective antagonist was developed.

Cryo-EM analysis of the human apelin receptor activated by either the endogenous peptide ligand or a potent synthetic small-molecule agonist reveals a mixture of homodimer and monomer organizations shedding light on a versatile regulation mechanism.

The authors solved structures of nine native band 3-associated complexes from human red blood cell membrane by cryo-EM. Integration of structural and biochemical data supports a model of ankyrin complex assembly during erythropoiesis.

Cryo-EM structures of human erythrocyte ankyrin-1 complex offer insights into the architecture of the RBC membrane and show how ankyrins can simultaneously recruit different membrane proteins to enable functional organization of membrane transport processes.

Single-molecule experiments reveal that condensin-induced DNA looping is stimulated by positive supercoils, and condensin preferentially binds near the tips of supercoiled plectonemes; upon loop extrusion, condensin collects nearby DNA plectonemes into a supercoiled loop.