Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Unicellular eukaryotes and mammalian germ cells and stem cells can maintain their telomere length through the action of telomerase. Insights into the mechanism by which telomerase is recruited to capped telomeres, and the individual contributions of telomere-associated proteins, highlight differences in this process between humans, budding yeast and fission yeast.
The class O forkhead box transcription factors (FOXOs) control diverse gene expression programmes and are themselves regulated by several post-translational mechanisms. A common principle of their many roles is the maintenance of tissue homeostasis in response to environmental changes.
Caveolae in the plasma membrane mediate signalling control and the response to membrane stress. The roles of caveolins and cavins hold the key to caveola structure and function, and their dysfunction is linked to several human diseases.
Myofilament length is a crucial parameter for efficient skeletal muscle contraction. Thin actin filament specification can be explained by a novel 'two-segment' model, whereby the filament consists of two concatenated segments that are of either constant or variable length. This model implicates that actin dynamics are subject to position-specific microregulation.
The first edition of the textbookMolecular Biology of the Cellwas published in 1983. Its unique features and aim and the way it was written lie at the heart of its success.
