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Mature desmosomes are the main adhesive junctions in epithelia and cardiac muscle. Now new work shows that the desmosomal protein desmoplakin is also essential for the maturation of adherens junctions. Desmoplakin clamps down on the transient zippering courtship of the classical cadherins, promoting the maturation of puncta adherens junctions and cortical actin remodelling, steps that are essential for cell adhesion.
Individual viruses have evolved strategies for surmounting a formidable barrier in their path to replication in the nucleus — the nuclear envelope. A new study describing the nuclear entry of adenovirus 2 finds that this virus docks at the CAN/Nup214 protein of the nuclear pore, then hijacks histone H1 and specific H1-import receptors to effect a targeted uncoating of its nucleocapsid at the nuclear pore.
Mitosis in higher organisms requires the dismantling of the nucleus. Reforming the nucleus at the end of mitosis involves the targeting of membranes to chromatin surfaces, followed by fusion to create a closed nuclear envelope. Recent work has identified some of the key players in this fusion process.