Gene Regulationas by COP 1 and COP 9 Complex

GPR40: Good Cop, Bad Cop?

Since its deorphanization in 2003 (1,2), the fatty acid receptor GPR40 (FFAR1/FFA1) has drawn considerable attention as a potential therapeutic target for type 2 diabetes. Because fatty acids acutely amplify insulin secretion only in the presence of glucose, the discovery of a “drugable” cell surface receptor whose activation glucose-dependently enhances insulin release generated much interest ...

p53 Good Cop/Bad Cop

Activation of the p53 transcription factor in response to a variety of cellular stresses, including DNA damage and oncogene activation, initiates a program of gene expression that blocks the proliferative expansion of damaged cells. While the beneficial impact of the anticancer function of p53 is well established, several recent papers suggest that p53 activation may in some circumstances act i...

Suicide by Cop

A terrified woman called police because her ex-boyfriend was breaking into her home. Upon arrival, police heard screams coming from the basement. They stopped halfway down the stairs and found the ex-boyfriend pointing a rifle at the floor. Officers observed a strange look on the subject’s face as he slowly raised the rifle in their direction. Both officers fired their weapons, killing the susp...

EBV infection and anti-CD3 treatment for Type 1 diabetes: bad cop, good cop?

From gene manager to traffic cop

A protein that tweaks gene expression moonlights in the cytoplasm, Xu et al. show (1). The protein, which is part of a histone-modifying complex in the nucleus, regulates endosome traffi cking in the cytoplasm and might infl uence when cells crawl and when they stay put. Histone lysine methyltransferase complexes affi x methyl groups to lysines in the H3 and H4 histones. Depending on the circum...