Research Highlights in 2017

Activation of the unfolded protein response suppresses circadian clock genes, which contributes to translation repression and increased cell survival.

The transcription factor YY1 structurally mediates enhancer–promoter looping interactions and controls gene expression.

Inhibition of polymerase III in the gut is shown to promote animal lifespan downstream of the TOR complex 1.

The production of circular RNAs is enhanced when canonical splicing of parent genes or transcription termination at upstream genes is reduced.

The entire skin of a young patient with junctional epidermolysis bullosa was successfuly regenerated using a combination ofex vivogene therapy and stem-cell replacement therapy, which is a major achievement in the translation of stem cell-based therapies to the clinic.

In contrast to the prevailing view, abundant and efficiently translated mRNAs tend to have short, pruned poly(A) tails.

Tubulin in meiotic oocyte spindles is asymmetrically tyrosinated, and this spindle asymmetry can drive biased, non-Mendelian inheritance of chromosomes.

Ribosome subunits that fail to properly mature enter translation, cause translational stress and become targets of translation surveillance pathways.

Applying force to the nucleus reduces the diffusion barrier at nuclear pores and promotes nuclear import of certain proteins, including the transcription regulator YAP, depending on their molecular properties.

Transcription of enhancer RNA at intragenic enhancers can attenuate the expression of the host gene.

Anti-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins can drive their own expression and promote cell survival by regulating Hedgehog signalling transcription activator GLI.

Low-level transcription persists during mitosis, and the reinstatement of robust gene expression occurs in a stepwise manner, starting with genes regulating cell organization and growth followed by the expression of cell type-specific genes.

The size and activity of nucleoli are cellular hallmarks of longevity and ageing, in model organisms and in humans.

The 2017 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award was awarded to Michael N. Hall (Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland) “for discoveries concerning the nutrient-activated TOR proteins and their central role in the metabolic control of cell growth”.

Barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) forms a layer on the surface of chromatin at late mitosis, guiding the reformation of a single nuclear envelope surrounding all chromosomes.

A new imaging technique (ChromEMT) enables the visualization of the local polymer structure and global 3D organization of chromatin in the nucleus of intact interphase and mitotic human cells.

In yeast, mitotic chromosome condensation is achieved bycis-chromatin looping, a process in which cohesin and condensin have distinct roles.

The skin is able to counteract tissue aberrancies resulting from tissue overgrowth and to restore normal tissue architecture by eliminating aberrant cells.

CRISPR–Cas9 was used in human embryos to correct a dominant heterozygous gene mutation that causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Sirtuin 1 deacetylates polyadenylate-binding protein 1 (PABP1), thereby suppressing nuclear export of polyadenylated mRNAs and translation to preserve energy under stress.