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Stable RNA interference by shRNA provides a means to study multiple facets of gene function. Fellman and Lowe explore the rules of implementation of this silencing method in the vertebrate system for achieving maximal knockdown with minimal off-target effects.
Defects in DNA replication, or in the pathways evolved to correct DNA replication problems, can cause genomic instability and disease. Zeman and Cimprich discuss recent advances in our understanding of the cellular responses to replication stress.
Cilia are present across most eukaryotic phyla and have diverse sensory and motility functions. Sung and Leroux review the trafficking pathways that modulate cilia biogenesis and maintenance.
Multiple processes in the cell require curved membranes. Stachowiak, Brodsky and Miller discuss how lipids and vesicle cargo proteins represent energy barriers to membrane bending, and how different mechanisms may operate to overcome these barriers as drivers of membrane curvature.
Autophagy maintains cell, tissue and organism homeostasis through degradation. Codogno, Boya and Reggiori review recent data that have uncovered unexpected functions of autophagy, such as regulation of metabolism, membrane transport and modulation of host defenses.
The metabolic activity of a cell or organism must be regulated by nutrient availability. Dibble and Manning discuss how the activity of the mTORC1 complex, a master regulator of metabolism, is able to respond to the nutrient environment.
Cédric Blanpain discusses the progress achieved in identifying and characterizing the cellular origins of different solid tumours in mouse models of skin, brain, breast, gut and lung cancer, using genetic lineage tracing approaches.
Muller and Vousden discuss the functional outcomes of mutant p53 in cancer and outline the mechanisms through which gain-of-function mutant p53 forms exert their oncogenic effects.
