The worm turns

The worm turns on Helicobacter pylori.

How the Worm Turns, in Molecular Detail

Any behavior is, at its most elemental level, a coordinated series of muscle contractions. Those contractions are triggered by motor neurons, whose firing is controlled by other neurons, both excitatory and inhibitory, the whole chain set in motion by a stimulus. While the outlines of such a simple behavioral circuit have been understood for decades, the details— in particular, which neurotrans...

Muscular dystrophy: The worm turns to genetic disease

A new animal model for studying muscular dystrophy, a mutant form of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, brings the power of worm genetics to bear on the search for a cure for this disease; work on this worm has already led to the identification of a novel component that can suppress the mutant phenotype.

Crumbs turns the corner

rumbs (Crb) helps flies distinguish apical from basal in their epithelia. Now two new studies show that it is required for cell expansion independently of its specification of apical polarity. During cell expansion, the apical domain of photoreceptors elongates perpendicular to the apical–basal axis so that the domain can extend from the top to the bottom of the fly eye. The process may be cons...

Estrogen turns down "the AIRE".

Genetic alterations are known drivers of autoimmune disease; however, there is a much higher incidence of autoimmunity in women, implicating sex-specific factors in disease development. The autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene contributes to the maintenance of central tolerance, and complete loss of AIRE function results in the development of autoimmune polyendocrinopathy syndrome type 1. In this i...