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Membrane and soluble secretory proteins are glycosylated in the endoplasmic reticulum. The addition ofN-linked glycans is important for protein folding and quality control, whereas O-linked mannoses have distinct functions in protein quality control. Recent studies have revealed the complexity of these glycan-directed modifications in protein biogenesis and degradation.
DNA damage repair is in the spotlight this year — the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 was awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar “for mechanistic studies of DNA repair”.
The ubiquitylation enzyme cullin 3 and its adaptor KBTBD8 mediate stem cell specification into neural crest by modulating the translation of a specific set of mRNAs.
Current research illustrates that various proteins, implicated in both physiological and pathological processes, can undergo phase separation to form liquid droplets.
Recent findings have demonstrated that Polycomb repressive complexes (PRCs) control gene expression through their co-recruitment to specific CpG island elements with transcription factors and non-coding RNAs. Moreover, they revealed that the interplay between PRC1 and PRC2 to achieve transcriptional repression is more intricate than was previously thought.
The discovery of modular protein- and lipid-binding domains was a crucial turning point in our understanding of the logic and evolution of cell signalling mechanisms. The late, great Tony Pawson was instrumental in their discovery.
Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) degrades mRNAs with abnormally positioned translation termination codons. It is now becoming apparent that NMD targets mRNAs to enable mammalian cells to adjust their transcriptomes and their proteomes to changing physiological conditions and during diverse cellular processes.
The chromatin-based epigenetic changes that occur during ageing and the role of chromatin modifiers in lifespan have recently been highlighted. The importance of epigenome remodelling by environmental stimuli for transcriptional and genomic stability is emerging, and such remodelling could provide new targets to counter ageing or age-related diseases.
Centrosomes are important microtubule organizers. As many proteins are concentrated at centrosomes, including cell cycle and signalling regulators, centrosomes are also likely to coordinate important cell decisions. Recent findings have shed light on the functions of centrosomes in animal cells and on the mechanisms of centrosome assembly and maturation during mitosis.
Recent findings revealed the extent to which mitochondrial translation and other cellular processes are mutually controlled. Mitochondrial translation is coordinated with the assembly of respiratory chain complexes and is positively regulated by microRNAs imported from the cytoplasm. In turn, mitochondrial translation stress activates retrograde signalling pathways that suppress cell proliferation.
At each ovulation cycle, the single-layer epithelia that encapsulate mammalian ovaries undergo rupture and rapid repair. Recent studies have identified stem cell pools that ensure ovarian epithelial homeostasis, thus providing insights into the regulation of stem cell function and the contribution of stem cells to ovarian tumorigenesis.
The orientation of CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF)-binding sites located in enhancers and promoters dictates the directionality of CTCF binding and thus chromatin topology and gene expression.
