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A newly identified role for SMAD specific E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 2 (Smurf2) in the regulation of histone ubiquitination uncovers a broad tumor suppressor activity that helps to maintain genomic stability in mice. A recent study suggests a new mechanism underlying the role of ubiquitination in cancer (pages 227–234).
The search for compounds to treat neurodegenerative disorders is especially pressing given the rapidly growing elderly human population and has led to the consideration of sirtuin proteins as potential therapeutic candidates. Two studies now report that modulating the expression of the sirtuin Sirt1 has therapeutic benefit in Huntington's disease mouse models and identify putative downstream targets of Sirt1 involved in improved disease outcomes (pages 159–165 and 153–158).
The beneficial cytoprotective effects of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in malaria infection are counterpoised by higher susceptibility to nontyphoidal Salmonella (NTS) bacteremia. A new study in mice co-infected with malaria and Salmonella provides a mechanism for the long-recognized association between malaria and NTS infection in African children.
A new study in mice shows that platelet-derived growth factor-B (PDGF-B) boosts tumor growth by exerting a double function after induction of erythropoietin (EPO) expression from stromal components—a proangiogeneic response in the endothelium and hematopoietic stimulation (pages 100–110).
Collapsing glomerulopathy, the classic kidney lesion in HIV-associated nephropathy, is characterized by the closure of glomerular capillary loops and epithelial cell proliferation. A new study shows that upregulation of TERT, the reverse transcriptase component of telomerase, in podocytes, the key filtration cells in the kidney, plays a major part in the development of this condition by activating Wnt signaling (pages 111–119).
