Featured
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Review Article |
The role of retrotransposable elements in ageing and age-associated diseases
This Review discusses how the activity of retrotransposons influences ageing and the role of these mobile genetic elements in age-related diseases and their treatment.
- Vera Gorbunova
- , Andrei Seluanov
- & John M. Sedivy
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Article
| Open AccessStructural insights into how Prp5 proofreads the pre-mRNA branch site
The cryo-electron microscopy structure of a newly identified, early spliceosomal complex reveals the mechanism by which the RNA helicase Prp5 enhances the fidelity of the excision of introns from precursor mRNAs.
- Zhenwei Zhang
- , Norbert Rigo
- & Reinhard Lührmann
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Technology Feature |
The hunt for red fluorescent proteins
By pushing fluorescent proteins further into the red, bioengineers are expanding the palette and penetration depth of biological imaging.
- Amber Dance
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Article |
Mechanisms of BRCA1–BARD1 nucleosome recognition and ubiquitylation
The authors elucidate the mechanisms for the ubiquitylation specificity and recruitment of the ubiquitin ligase complex BRCA1–BARD1 to damaged DNA within chromatin to facilitate homologous recombination.
- Qi Hu
- , Maria Victoria Botuyan
- & Georges Mer
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Article |
BARD1 reads H2A lysine 15 ubiquitination to direct homologous recombination
A tandem BRCT-domain-associated ubiquitin-dependent recruitment motif in BARD1 recruits BRCA1 to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) to promote homologous recombination and antagonize the 53BP1 DSB repair pathway that mediates non-homologous end joining.
- Jordan R. Becker
- , Gillian Clifford
- & J. Ross Chapman
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Article |
Regulated control of gene therapies by drug-induced splicing
A switch system is developed to control the expression of therapeutic genes, involving the administration of a small-molecule drug to induce splicing-mediated control of mRNA translation.
- Alex Mas Monteys
- , Amiel A. Hundley
- & Beverly L. Davidson
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Article |
Molecular architecture of the developing mouse brain
A comprehensive single-cell transcriptomic atlas of the mouse brain between gastrulation and birth identifies hundreds of cellular states and reveals the spatiotemporal organization of brain development.
- Gioele La Manno
- , Kimberly Siletti
- & Sten Linnarsson
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Article |
Structural basis of human separase regulation by securin and CDK1–cyclin B1
Structures of separase in complex with either securin or cyclin B–CDK1 shed light on the regulation of chromosome separation during the cell cycle.
- Jun Yu
- , Pierre Raia
- & Andreas Boland
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Research Highlight |
Tied in knots: Zika virus tangles are the most stable RNA known
A dangerous virus uses a ring-shaped structure to make its RNA resistant to attack.
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News & Views |
Receptor–enzyme complex structures show how receptors start to switch off
The structure of rhodopsin, an archetypal member of the G-protein-coupled family of receptors, in complex with its specific kinase enzyme, reveals the molecular mechanism of the first step of receptor inactivation.
- Vsevolod V. Gurevich
- & Eugenia V. Gurevich
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Article |
BANP opens chromatin and activates CpG-island-regulated genes
BANP is identified as the transcription factor that binds the CGCG element in a DNA-methylation-dependent manner, opens chromatin and activates a class of essential CpG-island-regulated genes.
- Ralph S. Grand
- , Lukas Burger
- & Dirk Schübeler
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Article
| Open AccessStructural basis of early translocation events on the ribosome
Cryo-electron microscopy and single-molecule fluorescence methods are used to elucidate the mechanism of early translocation events on the bacterial ribosome.
- Emily J. Rundlet
- , Mikael Holm
- & Scott C. Blanchard
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Article |
Shape of promoter antisense RNAs regulates ligand-induced transcription activation
The authors describe a role for the non-coding antisense transcripts produced at promoters in regulating ligand-induced activation of gene transcription.
- Fan Yang
- , Bogdan Tanasa
- & Michael G. Rosenfeld
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Outlook |
A sensitive strategy for tumour surveillance
The start-up C2i Genomics is hoping to improve liquid biopsies with its platform for detecting rare tumour DNA in blood samples.
- Michael Eisenstein
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Article |
A transcriptional switch governs fibroblast activation in heart disease
BET proteins regulate a reversible transcriptional switch that governs fibroblast activation in heart disease through the transcription factor MEOX1.
- Michael Alexanian
- , Pawel F. Przytycki
- & Deepak Srivastava
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Article |
Phase separation drives aberrant chromatin looping and cancer development
The NUP98–HOXA9 oncogenic fusion protein found in leukaemia undergoes phase separation in the nucleus, which helps to promote activation of leukaemic genes and to establish aberrant chromatin looping.
- Jeong Hyun Ahn
- , Eric S. Davis
- & Gang Greg Wang
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Article |
Dysregulation of brain and choroid plexus cell types in severe COVID-19
Single-nucleus transcriptomes of frontal cortex and choroid plexus samples from patients with COVID-19 reveal pathological cell states that are similar to those associated with human neurodegenerative diseases and chronic brain disorders.
- Andrew C. Yang
- , Fabian Kern
- & Tony Wyss-Coray
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Nature Podcast |
Google AI beats humans at designing computer chips
An AI that designs computer chips in hours, and zooming in on DNA’s complex 3D structures.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Noah Baker
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Article |
NORAD-induced Pumilio phase separation is required for genome stability
The noncoding RNA NORAD maintains genome stability in mammalian cells by sequestering Pumilio proteins in phase-separated compartments.
- Mahmoud M. Elguindy
- & Joshua T. Mendell
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Article |
Concerted cutting by Spo11 illuminates meiotic DNA break mechanics
A small proportion of Spo11-dependent DNA double-strand breaks are ‘double cuts’—adjacent breaks that occur in concert—revealing that gap repair during meiosis includes that of DNA gaps generated by Spo11 itself.
- Dominic Johnson
- , Margaret Crawford
- & Matthew J. Neale
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Article |
Defining genome architecture at base-pair resolution
Micro Capture-C allows physical contacts to be determined at base-pair resolution, revealing that transcription factors have an important role in the maintenance of the contacts between enhancers and promoters.
- Peng Hua
- , Mohsin Badat
- & James O. J. Davies
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Article |
Spo11 generates gaps through concerted cuts at sites of topological stress
Meiotic recombination in yeast is not only initiated by single break sites, but also caused by closely spaced Spo11-dependent double-stranded DNA breaks that create chromosomal gaps.
- Silvia Prieler
- , Doris Chen
- & Franz Klein
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News |
Antibody-laden nasal spray could provide COVID protection — and treatment
Scientists create a hybrid antibody that can sharply cut the amount of SARS-CoV-2 in the lungs of infected mice.
- Diana Kwon
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Article |
A proximity-dependent biotinylation map of a human cell
A proximity-dependent biotinylation technique defines the location of more than 4,000 proteins in a human cell, and almost 36,000 proximal interactions between proteins, including those at the interface of the mitochondria and ER.
- Christopher D. Go
- , James D. R. Knight
- & Anne-Claude Gingras
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Article |
Enhancer release and retargeting activates disease-susceptibility genes
Disruption of a promoter can release its partner enhancer to activate other promoters in the same contact domain, and this process, named ‘enhancer release and retargeting’, can often lead to gene alterations that cause disease.
- Soohwan Oh
- , Jiaofang Shao
- & Michael G. Rosenfeld
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Article |
MIR-NATs repress MAPT translation and aid proteostasis in neurodegeneration
The natural antisense transcript MAPT-AS1 interferes with translation of mRNA transcript into tau protein in the brain and may represent a general mechanism for controlling levels of intrinsically disordered proteins, with particular relevance for neurodegeneration.
- Roberto Simone
- , Faiza Javad
- & Rohan de Silva
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Article |
Structures of telomerase at several steps of telomere repeat synthesis
Cryo-electron microscopy structures of Tetrahymena telomerase with telomeric DNA at several steps of nucleotide addition provide insights into the structural basis of telomere repeat synthesis.
- Yao He
- , Yaqiang Wang
- & Juli Feigon
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Article |
RNA transcripts stimulate homologous recombination by forming DR-loops
RNA transcripts stimulate homologous recombination through the formation of DR-loops, intermediate structures that contain both DNA–DNA and DNA–RNA hybrids.
- Jian Ouyang
- , Tribhuwan Yadav
- & Lee Zou
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Nature Podcast |
Oldest African burial site uncovers Stone Age relationship with death
The earliest evidence of deliberate human burial in Africa, and a metal-free rechargeable battery.
- Benjamin Thompson
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Article |
Epigenetic silencing by SETDB1 suppresses tumour intrinsic immunogenicity
A CRISPR–Cas9 screen of chromatin regulators in mouse tumour models treated with immune checkpoint blockade identifies SETDB1 as an epigenetic checkpoint protein that suppresses tumour-intrinsic immunogenicity.
- Gabriel K. Griffin
- , Jingyi Wu
- & Bradley E. Bernstein
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Article |
Global miRNA dosage control of embryonic germ layer specification
The levels of microRNAs in mouse and human cells control lipid metabolism and germ cell specification during development.
- Yingzi Cui
- , Xuehui Lyu
- & Richard I. Gregory
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Review Article |
The central role of DNA damage in the ageing process
This Review examines the evidence showing that DNA damage is associated with ageing phenotypes, suggesting that it may have a central role as the cause of ageing.
- Björn Schumacher
- , Joris Pothof
- & Jan H. J. Hoeijmakers
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Where I Work |
On the trail of travelling RNA
Molecular biologist Juan Pablo Tosar wants to understand how cells talk to each other.
- Sara Reardon
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Article |
Small-molecule inhibition of METTL3 as a strategy against myeloid leukaemia
Treatment with a specific inhibitor of the N6-methyladenosine methyltransferase METTL3 leads to reduced growth of cancer cells, indicating the potential of approaches targeting RNA-modifying enzymes for anticancer therapy.
- Eliza Yankova
- , Wesley Blackaby
- & Tony Kouzarides
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Article |
Structure of the human Mediator–RNA polymerase II pre-initiation complex
The structure of a recombinant 20-subunit version of human Mediator bound to the transcription pre-initiation complex is determined, providing insight into the regulation of RNA polymerase II initiation.
- Srinivasan Rengachari
- , Sandra Schilbach
- & Patrick Cramer
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Article |
Structures of mammalian RNA polymerase II pre-initiation complexes
The high-resolution structure of the mammalian pre-initiation complex in different functional states provides detailed insights into the mechanism of transcription initiation.
- Shintaro Aibara
- , Sandra Schilbach
- & Patrick Cramer
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Article |
Structure of human telomerase holoenzyme with bound telomeric DNA
A high-resolution structure of human telomerase bound to telomeric DNA reveals details of telomerase assembly and its active site, and sheds light on how mutations alter telomerase function.
- George E. Ghanim
- , Adam J. Fountain
- & Thi Hoang Duong Nguyen
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Technology Feature |
Elusive cancer cells dissected using developmental-biology toolkit
Unpicking how cancer stem cells divide and spread could help to explain how tumours grow and evade treatments.
- Jyoti Madhusoodanan
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Article
| Open AccessHP1 drives de novo 3D genome reorganization in early Drosophila embryos
The heterochromatin protein HP1 has an essential role in establishing several features of the 3D nuclear organization of the genome during early embryonic development in Drosophila.
- Fides Zenk
- , Yinxiu Zhan
- & Nicola Iovino
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Article |
The AMBRA1 E3 ligase adaptor regulates the stability of cyclin D
AMBRA1 is the main regulator of the degradation of D-type cyclins, and loss of AMBRA1 promotes cell proliferation and tumour growth, and reduces the sensitivity of cancer cells to inhibition of CDK4 and CDK6.
- Andrea C. Chaikovsky
- , Chuan Li
- & Julien Sage
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Article |
Structural basis of long-range to short-range synaptic transition in NHEJ
Double-strand DNA break repair by the non-homologous end joining pathway involves the transition from a complex that bridges the DNA ends to a complex that aligns the DNA for ligation through the dissociation of the kinase subunits of the DNA-PK complexes.
- Siyu Chen
- , Linda Lee
- & Yuan He
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Article |
Multilevel proteomics reveals host perturbations by SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV
Multi-omics profiling of effects of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV on A549, a lung-derived human cell line, produces a dataset enabling identification of common and virus-specific mechanisms of infection.
- Alexey Stukalov
- , Virginie Girault
- & Andreas Pichlmair
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Article
| Open AccessThe structure, function and evolution of a complete human chromosome 8
The complete assembly of human chromosome 8 resolves previous gaps and reveals hidden complex forms of genetic variation, enabling functional and evolutionary characterization of primate centromeres.
- Glennis A. Logsdon
- , Mitchell R. Vollger
- & Evan E. Eichler
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Article |
Neuronal enhancers are hotspots for DNA single-strand break repair
DNA single-strand breaks in neurons accumulate at high levelsin functional enhancers.
- Wei Wu
- , Sarah E. Hill
- & André Nussenzweig
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News & Views |
A new phase in meiotic cell division
The exchange of DNA between pairs of chromosomes is key to sexual reproduction. It emerges that one step in this process — the introduction of DNA breaks by the enzyme Spo11 — relies on condensation of proteins into liquid-like droplets.
- Kevin D. Corbett
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Article |
DNA-driven condensation assembles the meiotic DNA break machinery
During meiosis, Mer2 and the Rec114–Mei4 complex form condensates that facilitate the formation of double-strand DNA breaks by recruiting the Spo11 transesterase complex.
- Corentin Claeys Bouuaert
- , Stephen Pu
- & Scott Keeney
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Article |
A high-resolution protein architecture of the budding yeast genome
A ChIP–exo method is used to define the genome-wide positional organization of proteins associated with gene transcription, DNA replication, centromeres, subtelomeres and transposons, revealing distinct protein assemblies for constitutive and inducible gene expression.
- Matthew J. Rossi
- , Prashant K. Kuntala
- & B. Franklin Pugh
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Technology Feature |
Technology alliance boosts efforts to store data in DNA
Trade group aims to advance technologies for storing big data.
- Sarah Vitak
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