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Kazutoshi Mori and Peter Walter were awarded the 2014 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for their discoveries on the unfolded protein response.
Using a system that offers high temporal resolution of transcription in single living cells, Stasevichet al. reveal that histone H3 Lys 27 acetylation enhances gene expression by promoting transcription elongation and transcription factor recruitment.
Recent data suggest that histone modifications have a direct effect on nucleosomal architecture. Acetylation, methylation, phosphorylation and citrullination of the histone core may influence chromatin structure by affecting histone–histone and histone–DNA interactions, as well as the binding of histones to chaperones.
Somite formation relies on a molecular oscillator, the segmentation clock, which leads to oscillatory gene expression in the presomitic mesoderm; this is converted into the periodic generation of segments in response to signalling gradients referred to as the wavefront. Recent studies provide insights into the molecular mechanisms behind this intricate developmental system.
It is unclear how totipotent embryonic cells acquire their fate and what role chromatin dynamics have in this process. Technological advances in studying single cells have begun to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying lineage allocation and cell plasticity in early mammalian development.
The mechanisms underlying spindle checkpoint signalling at the kinetochore, which ensures faithful chromosome segregation during cell division, are being unravelled. They indicate that the checkpoint response is graded rather than switch-like (completely on or off) as traditionally thought, and provide insights for the treatment of cancers in which the checkpoint is bypassed.
Binding of DNA and of RNA are no longer considered functionally distinct, partly owing to the discovery that DNA- and RNA-binding proteins (DRBPs) can bind long non-coding RNAs and DNA. The unique functional characteristics of DRBPs stem from their specific structural features and allow them to regulate various cellular processes.
