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Voltage- and patch-clamp fluorometry reveal structural rearrangements of the S1 helix and its surroundings that are important for gating of the Hv1 voltage-gated proton channel.
The finding that miRNA transcripts originating from long-noncoding-RNA loci use Microprocessor, rather than canonical cleavage and polyadenylation, to terminate transcription establishes a new RNase III–mediated transcriptional-termination pathway.
New biochemical and genetic analyses in S. pombe show that Argonaute must be loaded with small RNAs to promote association of the GW-protein components required to assemble a functional transcriptional silencing complex.
Crystal structures of the bacterial vitamin C transporter UlaA, a member of the AG family of the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system, provide insights on binding to ascorbate and its transport across the cell membrane.
Serial femtosecond crystallography of the human δ-opioid receptor in complex with an endomorphin-derived peptide reveals interactions that are important for understanding the pharmacology of opioid peptides and developing analgesics with reduced side effects.
Aβ peptide aggregation is associated with Alzheimer's disease, and Aβ fibrils can catalyze formation of toxic oligomers. Molecular chaperone Brichos binds to the fibril surface, inhibiting the catalytic cycle in vitro, and limits Aβ toxicity.
Tumor-suppressor protein CYLD cleaves linear and Lys63-linked ubiquitin chains. Structures of CYLD USP domain with Met1- and Lys63-linked diubiquitins and biochemical analyses reveal the mechanism for dual specificity and provide insight into tumor-associated mutations.
The identification of a new subclass of circular RNAs that are predominantly nuclear and promote transcription of their parental genes reveals a new regulatory function for these noncoding RNAs.
Genome-wide DNA polymerase usage maps determined in fission yeast, using a new sequencing strategy based on ribonucleotide misincorporation, track the division of labor between replicative polymerases and reveal locations and efficiencies of replication origins.
The crystal structure of Yersinia enterocolitica kinase YopO in complex with monomeric actin, together with biochemical analyses, reveals that YopO uses actin as bait to disrupt host cytoskeleton function and prevent phagocytosis.
Recognition of nucleic acids is a key strategy of the innate immune system to detect infectious organisms and tissue damage. Toll-like receptor (TLR) 8 was long assumed to be a receptor for single-stranded (ss) RNA. Unexpected findings now suggest that TLR8 recognizes RNA degradation products rather than ssRNA and that synergistic binding of two uridine-containing agonists at distinct sites of the receptor leads to activation of the innate immune response.
The ryanodine receptor (RyR), an ion channel regulating intracellular calcium release in excitable cells, has been challenging for structural analysis because of its colossal proportions compared to most other ion channels. Three independent groups have now used recent technological advancements in single-particle cryo-EM to make giant strides in solving the structure of this elusive protein complex.
Little is currently known about the molecular determinants of energy barriers along enzyme catalytic pathways. Kern and co-workers have studied this question in adenylate kinase (Adk) and now reveal that a single Mg2+ ion can accelerate two distinct steps, thus uncovering an unexpected dual role for this ubiquitous cofactor.
The structural rules governing the curving folds of solenoid proteins, as distilled down to the level of the underlying sequence repeats, provide designers with the tools to reliably fashion new variants with tunable geometries. Bespoke leucine-rich repeat (LRR) scaffolds, as recognition proteins, can now be tailored to better fit their targets.
