Issues

Summary: We highlight the emerging roles of Abl kinases in the regulation of cellular processes in normal cells and diverse pathologies that range from cancer to microbial pathogenesis.

Summary: Integrin-dependent and -independent function of kindlin isoforms and their regulation in homeostasis, disease and cancer.

Highlighted Article: HMGB1 N-glycosylation is a prerequisite for its nucleocytoplasmic transport and extracellular secretion.

Summary: miR-195 and miR-497 are negatively regulated by the myogenic factor NF-κB, and they could inhibit myoblast proliferation through targeting the Igf1r, Insr and cyclin genes.

Highlighted Article: This study provides new insight into how endotoxin triggers depletion of a key mitochondrial enzyme, Alcat1, by activating an SCF ubiquitin E3 ligase complex that contains Fbxo28.

Summary: NO from microglia causes reversible caspase activation and phosphatidylserine exposure by PC12 cells, resulting in their cell death by phagocytosis.

Highlighted Article: The distinct activities of p120 towards E-cadherin and Rho are molecularly and functionally coupled, and this in turn enables the maintenance of cell shape in the larger context of an epithelial monolayer.

Summary: Palmitoylation and proximal sequences can function as secondary sorting signals for membrane proteins with suboptimal transmembrane domains.

Summary: By using a series of overlapping human TNF-derived peptides, it is shown that the evolutionarily conserved primary sequences of TNF relate to its primitive role in cell death.

Summary: Detailed analysis of the ability of the Drosophila cytolinker protein Pigs to modulate its cytoskeleton-interacting functions (+TIP tracking, microtubule shaft binding, actin binding and actin–microtubule crosslinking).

Summary: Screening of known kinases in the yeast genome revealed the Ccl1–Kin28 complex as a novel regulator of autophagy. Proteasomal turnover of Ccl1 limits autophagy during prolonged starvation.

Summary: This study demonstrates the reciprocal roles of the transcriptional repressor Gfi1b and its gene target and signaling factor Rgs18 in arbitrating the generation of the erythroid and megakaryocytic lineages.

Summary: NAF-1 is a major player in the metabolic regulation of breast cancer cells through its effects on cellular Fe ion distribution, mitochondrial metabolism and the induction of apoptosis.

Summary: A loss-of-function study of the SNX9, SNX18 and SNX33 homolog SH3PX1 in Drosophila reveals a new role in the development of presynaptic active zones and regulation of neurotransmitter release.

Summary: Novel imaging procedures in the adult Drosophila wing reveal that Lissencephaly-1 restrains mitochondrial motion and that reducing levels of this protein protects against an age-related decline in protein homeostasis.

Summary: CDK-mediated phosphorylation of PHD1 at serine 130 controls target specificity and confers cell cycle regulation of PHD1.

Summary: We reveal the molecular mechanism by which BMP6 induces hyperpermeabilization of the endothelium. This provides first insights into the mechanism of BMP-dependent vascular integrity in normal physiology and disease.

Summary: The murine cytomegalovirus immunoevasin gp40 effectively reduces MHC class I surface levels by binding to them and retaining them in the early secretory pathway.

Highlighted Article: Here we develop a high-definition imaging approach to dissect and assign function to proteins involved in the rapid process of malaria parasite invasion of the human erythrocyte.