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Structural and functional analyses of budding yeast Rif1 reveal a hooked N-terminal DNA-binding domain required for telomere maintenance and checkpoint control. Cover art by Erin Dewalt, image from Mgovantes / iStock / Getty Images Plus. (p 588)
Nature research journals announce new reporting summaries to promote transparency, and our editors welcome early-career researchers to the Springer Nature office in New York to discuss careers in scientific publishing.
Long noncoding (lnc)RNAs are postulated to control diverse biological processes by modulating transcription, yet for most lncRNAs evidence supporting this function has been lacking. A new report describes the role of a novel class of lncRNAs—chromatin-associated enhancer RNAs or cheRNAs—in the regulation of proximal gene expression.
Cytoplasmic dyneins transport cellular components from the periphery toward the center of the cell. By moving cargoes along microtubules, dyneins ensure proper cell division, regulate exchange of materials between organelles, and contribute to the internal organization of eukaryotic cells. Two recent studies show that, upon dimerization, cytoplasmic dyneins intrinsically adopt an autoinhibited configuration that can be relieved by other factors to precisely control motor activity and regulate dynein-based transport.
The envelope glycoprotein spike, the sole antigen on the Lassa virus (LASV) surface, constitutes the focal point of the host neutralizing immune response. A high-resolution structure of the trimeric LASV glycoprotein in an antibody-bound form illuminates the molecular architecture of the antigen and reveals the mode of action of the most abundant known class of Lassa-specific human neutralizing antibodies.
Microprocessor components Dgcr8 and Drosha associate with transcriptionally active coding and noncoding genes in a Mettl3-dependent manner and, upon temperature stress, relocate to heat-shock genes, where they mark mRNAs for subsequent degradation.
Crystal structures of hGPR40, a target for treatment of type 2 diabetes, bound to a partial and an allosteric agonist explain the binding cooperativity between these ligands and present new opportunities for structure-guided drug design.
MDM2 mutations that prevent E2–ubiquitin binding without altering RING domain structure lead to loss of E3-ligase activity, while the ability to limit p53 transcriptional activity is retained, allowing cells to respond more quickly to cellular stress.
Structure determination and functional analyses of budding yeast Rif1 reveal a novel, hooked N-terminal DNA-binding domain required for telomere maintenance and checkpoint control and show that Rif1's role in DNA-repair pathway choice is conserved in yeast and mammalian cells.
Functional characterization of chromatin enriched lncRNAs (cheRNAs) reveals their role as cis-acting transcriptional activators that couple enhancers at sites of cheRNA synthesis to promoters of proximal target genes.
MILI-mediated piRNA processing and amplification is not essential for all MIWI2 male germline reprogramming activity, indicating the existence of a MILI-independent piRNA biogenesis pathway.
