The Rain Keeps Falling

The minimal genome keeps growing.

Ubiquitylation keeps the nucleus moving

Ubiquitylation keeps the nucleus moving H ayakawa et al. reveal that many components of the yeast nuclear pore complex (NPC) are ubiquitylated and describe how this modifi cation helps segregate the nucleus during mitosis. NPCs and their constituent nucleoporin proteins control several cellular processes, including molecular transport between the nucleus and cytoplasm. These functions can be re...

How the brain keeps the eyes still.

The brain can hold the eyes still because it stores a memory of eye position. The brain's memory of horizontal eye position appears to be represented by persistent neural activity in a network known as the neural integrator, which is localized in the brainstem and cerebellum. Existing experimental data are reinterpreted as evidence for an "attractor hypothesis" that the persistent patterns of a...

Catenin keeps vesicles close

kinase better known for triggering DNA replication also helps create the sticky heterochromatin at centromeres of fission yeast, according to Julie Bailis, Susan Forsburg (Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA), and colleagues. The dual action makes sense, as chromosomes must be stuck together as soon as they are replicated. The responsible kinase activity, Hsk1 (CDC7)–Dfp1, is restricted to S phase, wh...

NSD3 keeps IRF3 active

Antiviral innate immune responses are a critical first line of host defense against invading viral pathogens (Akira et al., 2006; Takeuchi and Akira, 2010; Moresco et al., 2011). Viral RNA and DNA is initially recognized by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) such as TLRs, retinoic acid– inducible gene-I (RIG-I)–like receptors (RLRs), Nod-like receptors (NLRs), and cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP) synth...