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  • The identification of sodium and potassium currents as underlying action potential propagation, more than 70 years ago, opened a new avenue of research into the role of ion channels. In this Comment, we present our personal perspectives of the field, from the identification of Shaker as a potential potassium channel to the mechanistic insights available to us today.

    • Lily Yeh Jan
    • Yuh Nung Jan
    Comment
  • Transcription of toxin–antitoxin modules is regulated by conditional cooperativity, where the toxin enables or disrupts antitoxin-driven repression. Here, the authors solve the structural basis for the conditional cooperativity of Salmonella TacAT3.

    • Grzegorz J. Grabe
    • Rachel T. Giorgio
    • Sophie Helaine
    Article
  • In addition to the usual dose of compelling science, our March issue features thoughtful reflections on the last 30 years from readers, as well as past and present editors. Perhaps influenced by these pieces or by our stunning cover — or maybe it is just the changing seasons — we are in an introspective mood this month.

    Editorial
  • Over the past 30 years, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (NSMB) has covered an enormous breadth of subjects in the broad field of molecular and structural biology. Here, some of the journal’s past and present editors recount their editorial experience at NSMB and some of the more memorable papers they worked on.

    • Guy Riddihough
    • Christopher Surridge
    • Dimitris Typas
    Feature
  • In this Review, the authors present an overview of our current understanding of the relationship between DNA methylation and three-dimensional chromatin architecture, discussing the extent to which DNA methylation may regulate the folding of the genome.

    • Ana Monteagudo-Sánchez
    • Daan Noordermeer
    • Maxim V. C. Greenberg
    Review Article
  • Examining artificial embryos (gastruloids), Merle et al. uncover precise gene organization and proportional growth, providing insights into fundamental principles of developmental processes in mammalian systems.

    • Mélody Merle
    • Leah Friedman
    • Thomas Gregor
    Article
  • Over the past 30 years, the field of structural biology and its associated biological insights have seen amazing progress. In this Comment, I recount several milestones in the field and how we can apply lessons from the past toward an exciting future, especially as it relates to drug discovery.

    • Cheryl H. Arrowsmith
    Comment
  • The biogenesis and recycling of the ‘heart’ of the human spliceosome, the U5 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP), requires CD2BP2 and TSSC4. Here the authors present cryo-electron microscopy structures that reveal how these protein chaperones orchestrate the ATP-independent (re)generation of the U5 snRNP.

    • Daria Riabov Bassat
    • Supapat Visanpattanasin
    • Clemens Plaschka
    Brief Communication
  • Here the authors report the structure of the human 20S U5 snRNP, providing new insights into the assembly of the spliceosome building blocks.

    • Sarah Schneider
    • Irina Brandina
    • Wojciech P. Galej
    Brief CommunicationOpen Access
  • Here, the authors determine the structure of the human outer kinetochore KMN network complex, showing that it forms an extended and rigid rod-like structure and that it exists in an auto-inhibited state which can be relieved by phosphorylation.

    • Stanislau Yatskevich
    • Jing Yang
    • David Barford
    ArticleOpen Access
  • During cell division, kinetochores anchor chromosomes to spindle microtubules. Here, the authors report a comprehensive structure–function analysis of the kinetochore’s main microtubule receptor, the KMN network, shedding new light on its organization.

    • Soumitra Polley
    • Tobias Raisch
    • Andrea Musacchio
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Here, the authors ask how much regulatory activity DNA is expected to have in the absence of selection. In yeast and humans, they find that gene regulatory activity is common in evolutionarily naive DNA, suggesting that activity is not always indicative of function.

    • Ishika Luthra
    • Cassandra Jensen
    • Carl G. de Boer
    Article