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.
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.
Atomic-resolution structures have recently been obtained for the intact spliceosome at different stages of the splicing cycle. These structural data have proved that the spliceosome is a protein-directed metalloribozyme and have increased our understanding of pre-mRNA splicing mechanisms, explaining a large body of existing genetic and biochemical data.
Lipolysis degrades triacylglycerols to supply cells with free fatty acids, which are essential components of membrane lipids and substrates for energy production. Recent discoveries transformed our understanding of the functions of and crosstalk between 'neutral' lipolysis, which occurs in the cytosol, and lipophagy and 'acid' lipolysis, which occur in lysosomes, and how dysfunction in these processes contributes to metabolic diseases.
Fluorescence nanoscopy enables the optical imaging of cellular components with resolutions at the nanometre scale. With the growing availability of super-resolution microscopes, nanoscopy methods are being increasingly applied. Quantitative, multicolour, live-cell nanoscopy and the corresponding labelling strategies are under continuous development.
Assembly of the microtubule nucleus is energetically unfavourable and,in vivo, microtubule nucleation requires support, such as a stable template, to stabilize the initial weak interactions between tubulin dimers. Microtubules can also be nucleated in the absence of a template by certain microtubule-associated proteins, which stabilize the nascent nucleation intermediates.
