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Ubiquitin-like protein (Ubl)-specific proteases catalyze Ubl precursor processing and deconjugation. Two recent structural studies of SUMO-specific protease (SENP)–substrate complexes provide new insight into hydrolysis of the peptide bond at the C terminus of SUMO. A kinked, cis configuration for the scissile bond is crucial for proteolysis.
The mechanism by which ATP-dependent remodeling enzymes act to space nucleosomes is as yet unclear. A new study uses FRET to monitor nucleosome repositioning in real time to address how these enzymes sense when nucleosomes are evenly distributed.
The first structures of an intramembrane serine protease reveal a catalytic His-Ser dyad in a water-filled cavity surrounded by six transmembrane helices, but just how substrate helices gain access to the dyad is controversial.
Andrew Fire and Craig Mello have won the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for their discovery of RNA interference. Mary K. Montgomery, then a postdoc in the Fire laboratory, participated in some of the key experiments.
Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak were recently recognized with the Lasker award for their work on telomerase and the role of this enzyme in cellular proliferation. Vicki Lundblad reflects on the excitement as these experiments were unfolding.
This year's Nobel laureate in chemistry is Roger Kornberg. Patrick Cramer gives a personal account of how the Kornberg laboratory determined the structure of the RNA polymerase II core enzyme.