Volume 16 Issue 9, September 2015

The nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC) at the ribosome exit site contributes to correct targeting of nascent chains by determining whether MetAP or SRP associate with the ribosome.

This study shows the mechanism by which, in the absence of RB, MYC and E2F proteins drive unregulated cell proliferation in the intestine.

Neural crest cells switch from expressing E-cadherin to expressing N-cadherin to undergo contact inhibition of locomotion.

DNA methylation and H3K9 methylation are typically associated with gene silencing. Genetic, genomic, structural and biochemical data reveal functional connections between these two epigenetic marks. They also highlight how specialized protein domains that recognize the marks are essential for their establishment and maintenance at appropriate genomic loci.

Measurement of protein binding to a large number of RNA variants reveals binding patterns and helps to quantify binding specificities, which enables the development of RNA–protein interaction models. Such models are changing the binary view of RNA binding by proteins as either specific or nonspecific.

The recent discovery of the genes encoding components of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter paves the way for further study of its mechanism of action and its relevance to physiological and pathological processes.

The unique physical and chemical properties of microfluidic devices have underpinned notable recent advances in molecular cell biology research and will facilitate a new era of biological enquiry of increased precision.

DNA assembly methods are essential to the field of synthetic biology. Casiniet al. discuss the powerful DNA assembly methods and standards developed in the past decade that facilitate the streamlined assembly of genetic networks and even of whole chromosomes and cells.