Volume 17 Issue 7, July 2016

Bromodomain protein 4 (BRD4) is shown to possess histone acetyltransferase activity, through which it mediates nucleosome eviction from chromatin, contributing to chromatin decompaction.

Autophagy-initiating kinases ULK1 and ULK2 are now shown to function independently of autophagy in regulating protein trafficking from the ER.

The use of a chemical genetics approach to identify poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) targets revealed that PARP1 promotes transcription elongation.

Galluzzi and Kroemer take advantage of a large study of somatic copy number alterations to revisit the previously suggested idea that cancer aneuploidy frequently arises from genome duplication.

The engineering of an artificial niche for the maintenance of quiescent muscle stem cellsin vitrois reported.

SMC (structural maintenance of chromosomes) complexes are found in all living organisms and include condensin, cohesin and the SMC5–SMC6 complex. Recent mechanistic insight into these ring-shaped protein machines, which topologically encircle DNA, shed light on how they function to mediate chromosome condensation, sister chromatid cohesion and DNA repair.

Some terminally differentiated cells have the capacity to de-differentiate or transdifferentiate under physiological conditions as part of a normal response to injury. Recent insights have been gained into the role of this cell plasticity in maintaining tissue and organ homeostasis, and this has important implications for cell-based therapies.

RNA helicases can either remodel or lock the composition of messenger ribonucleoprotein complexes, and thus they have pleiotropic functions in the regulation of gene expression. RNA helicases can drive the progression of mRNAs between various RNA-processing factories, leading to protein synthesis or to mRNA storage or decay.

Seven transmembrane domain (7TM) receptors are a vast group of proteins that respond to various cues and transmit signals intracellularly by interacting with heterotrimeric G proteins, arrestins and G protein-coupled receptor kinases. Recent structural analyses reveal common means of interaction between 7TM receptors and these intracellular signalling components.

Metabolomics has been utilized extensively for the identification of single metabolites and their use as biomarkers. Owing to recent technical advances, it is now possible to use metabolomics to better understand whole metabolic pathways and to more precisely pinpoint the involvement of metabolites in physiology and pathology.