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Bacterial LPS O-antigen is synthesized with a narrow size range by polymerase WbdA and terminating protein WbdD. An extended coiled-coil domain in WbdD determines the length of the synthesized O-chain, acting as a molecular ruler.
Gronemeyer and colleagues identify naturally occurring double-stranded RNAs arising from sense-antisense transcript pairs and demonstrate that one of these RNAs, nds-2a, interacts with mitotic protein complexes and is required for cellular mitosis.
5-Formylcytosine (5fC) is implicated in active DNA demethylation and has been proposed to act as an epigenetic signal. Balasubramanian and colleagues now report that this base modification imparts a unique, previously undescribed conformation to DNA.
Cytoplasmic dynein has multiple ATPase subunits, with AAA1 as the primary ATPase. Single-molecule and biochemical approaches reveal that AAA3 ATPase has a role in switching dynein between cargo-transport and microtubule-anchoring modes.
Different catalytic steps of endonuclease I-DmoI are captured crystallographically to allow direct observation of the generation of a DNA double-strand break. A third metal ion enters the active site and has a key role in hydrolysis.
Bacterial ABC importer GlnPQ has two fused substrate-binding domains (SBDs). Single-molecule FRET is now used to probe the conformational dynamics of the SBDs, which are shown to directly influence transport rates.
All RAF kinase domain structures reported to date have adopted a dimer configuration. Marc Therrien, Frank Sicheri and colleagues now report a crystal structure of the BRAF monomeric 'off' state, providing insight into its catalytic activation.
Myo1c is a monomeric, unconventional myosin that can sense mechanical force in the cell. The structure of Myo1c's entire tail and neck domains in complex with apocalmodulin reveals a new mode of calmodulin interaction.
Peptide hydrocarbon stapling is used to generate protease-resistant HIV-1 MPER antigens that mimic the conformation of viral epitopes and that are recognized by two different broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV.
The BBSome is required for formation of primary cilia, sensory organelles whose dysfunction is linked to genetic disorders. Lorentzen and colleagues offer insight into BBSome membrane recruitment, providing a molecular rationale for common disease mutations.
BRD4, a key target of the clinically relevant BET inhibitor JQ1, thought to function by releasing Pol II from promoter-proximal pausing, is shown to promote Pol II elongation by acting as a histone chaperone.
Reconstitution of a 15-subunit functional human Mediator complex establishes direct physical and functional interactions of key MED subunits with both Pol II and TFIID to support transcriptional activation and identifies subunits critical for module association and assembly.
Proapoptotic signals trigger the transition of cIAP1 from an autoinhibited monomeric form to an activated dimer. NMR and time-resolved SAXS analyses reveal the conformational dynamics of the cIAP1 monomer that facilitates rapid and irreversible activation.
Integrin α-β heterodimers recognize ligands with RGD peptide motifs, but how they differentiate between the numerous RGD-containing proteins is unknown. Here, Springer and colleagues elucidate the structural basis for ligand binding specificity of the integrin β subunit.
Work in Caenorhabditis elegans identifies a substrate for CED-3 caspase during apoptosis, CNT-1. The cleavage product of CNT-1 localizes to the plasma membrane and blocks the activation of AKT by PIP3, suppressing AKT's prosurvival effects.
Cryo-EM structures of the co-translational chaperone RAC in association with the ribosome suggest that RAC regulates protein translation by mechanically coupling cotranslational folding with the peptide-elongation cycle.
Cryo-EM analyses of coronin in complex with F-actin in its ADP-bound or ADP–BeFx–bound state and fitting of atomic models explain the nucleotide-dependent effects of coronin on cofilin-assisted remodeling of F-actin.
The X-ray crystal structure of ScaDMT, a bacterial member of the solute carrier 11 transporter family, identifies conserved residues within the substrate-binding site that confer metal-ion selectivity.
U2AF is known to affect 3′-splice-site selection. Here, Fu and colleagues use genome-wide analysis of U2AF-RNA interactions to define U2AF's key roles in gene expression and regulated splicing in normal and disease states.
CAG-repeat expansion in the housekeeping gene ATXN7 causes the neurodegenerative disorder SCA7. Now ATXN7 protein is found to promote transcription and expression of miR-124, which in turn mediates cross-talk between lnc-SCA7 and ATXN7 transcripts.