These short, accessible highlights summarize and contextualize must-read papers related to cell signaling. These articles add background and context to summaries of primary research. 'In brief' articles emphasize key aspects of selected articles.
 | Adiponectin: Healing a wounded heart
Adiponectin stimulates AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and COX-2 to prevent myocyte apoptosis and reduce inflammation after ischemic heart injury.
Original research paper: Nature Medicine 11, 1096 – 1103, (2005) |
 | Cell cycle:
Choreographing the mitotic ballet
The generation of an intracellular gradient of the small guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) Ran has been shown to regulate microtubule dynamics and mitotic spindle positioning.
Original research paper: Science 309, 1373 – 1376, (2005) |
 | In brief: October 2005
Telomeres | RNA | Trafficking | Metabolism | Cell Cycle | Macrophages | B-Cell Signalling | Natural Killer Cells | Vaccines | Tumorigenesis | Telomeres | Gene networks | Genome Biology | Neurological disorders | Development |
 | Molecular networks:
The power of prediction
Predictive models of the molecular machinery involved in Caenorhabditis elegans embryogenesis are now being predicted based on interactome, transcriptome and phenotypic data sets.
Original research paper: Nature 436, 861 – 865, ( (2005)) |
 | Asthma and allergy:
TSLP: key role in allergic responses confirmed
Three new studies highlight the crucial role of the cytokine thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) in the development of dermatitis and airway inflammation.
Original research paper: J. Exp. Med. 202, 541 – 549, (2005) |
 | Disease models:
Constructive connections
Drosophila DJ-1 mutants reveal a genetic link between the familial and sporadic forms of Parkinson disease.
Original research paper: Curr. Biol. 15, 1572 – 1577, (2005) |
 | Circadian genetics:
Heating up the body clock
Post-transcriptional thermoregulation of gene expression has been shown to be important for the synchronization of circadian rhythms in both flies and fungi.
Original research paper: Genes Dev. 15, 1352 – 1363, (17 August 2005) |
 | Synaptic physiology:
A brake from the norm
Large-conductance calcium-activated potassium (BK) channels facilitate neurotransmitter release in rod synapses by enhancing calcium channel activity.
Original research paper: J. Neurosci. 25, 7660 – 7668, (2005) |
 | Precisely biotinylated RNA
Using unnatural base pairs, researchers have site-specifically biotinylated RNA to immobilize an aptamer on a chip and detect its interaction with a target protein.
Original research paper: Nucleic Acids Res. 33, e129 – , (2005) |
 | The human interactome: From virtual to reality
A human interactome map based on the yeast two-hybrid system has produced a network of binary interactions for human proteins that almost doubles the number of described interactions occurring between the products of 8,100 open reading frames tested.
Original research paper: Nature 437, 1173 – 1178, (2005) |
 | Cell Death: A balancing act
Two groups report how — following DNA damage — the proapoptotic factor BID can induce either cell cycle arrest or apoptosis.
Original research paper: Cell 122, 579 – 591, (2005) |
 | Antiviral immunity: Stressed mitochondria take it out on viruses
The identification of the novel protein MAVS (mitochondrial antiviral signaling), which mediates the activation of NF-κB and interferon-regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) in response to viral infection, has highlighted a role for mitochondria in innate immunity.
Original research paper: Cell 122, 669 – 682, (2005) |
 | Therapeutics: Flower power
Honokiol, an active component purified from magnolia root, has anti-tumor activity and can overcome drug-resistance in multiple-myeloma cells.
Original research paper: Blood 106, 1794 – 1800, (2005) |
 | Repeat instability: A non-repeat performance
The expansion of a polyglutamine tract in the gene ATXN1 stabilizes human Ataxin-1, thus increasing its interaction with the transcription factor Senseless and inducing selective neurodegeneration.
Original research paper: Cell 122, 633 – 644, (2005) |
 | Neurological disorders: A fusion of pathology in diabetic neuropathy
The fusion of bone-marrow-derived proinsulin-expressing cells with nerve cells could be a key event underlying diabetic neuropathy.
Original research paper: Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102, 12525 – 12530, (2005) |
 | Infectious disease: Faster drugs for unknown bugs
Intranasal delivery of SARS-specific small interfering RNA (siRNA) proves effective against SARS in a rhesus macaque model, thus demonstrating a new means to combat emerging infectious diseases.
Original research paper: Nature Med. 11, 944 – 951, (2005) |
 | Stem Cells: Hot fusion
Human embryonic stem cells have the capacity to reprogram an adult cell nucleus, leading to a new way of deriving human embryonic stem cell lines without using oocytes.
Original research paper: Science 308, 1777 – 1783, (2005) |
 | Protein Degradation and NO: The beginning of the N-End
New research links the N-end rule protein degradation pathway to Nitric Oxide (NO) signaling in mammals.
Original research paper: Nature 437, 981 – 986, (2005) |
 | Circadian rhythms: Wrestling with time?
New research shows that both the expression and function of BMAL1, a key circadian-clock transcription factor, are regulated by SUMOylation at the highly conserved residue Lys259.
Original research paper: Science 309, 1390 – 1394, (2005) |
 | Protein degradation: Proteasome anchored
In fission yeast, the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme Rhp6 regulates proteasome machinery in the nucleus through the ubiquitination and destruction of the sensor and proteasome tether Cut8.
Original research paper: Cell 122, 393 – 405, (2005) |
 | Immune responses: Immune-cell communication gets physical
Tunneling nanotubules that physically connect distant immune cells may amplify the response of sentinel cells to microbial invasion.
Original research paper: Immunity 23, 309 – 318, (2005) |
 | Transcriptomics: The no-longer uncharted territory
The results of a genome-wide analysis to characterize the mouse transcriptome will facilitate the comparative analysis of mammalian transcriptional regulation in differentiation and development.
Original research paper: Science 309, 1559 – 1563, (2005) |
 | Neurodegenerative disorders: MEOX2 linked with Alzheimer's disease
A new study links the downregulation of the homeobox gene MEOX2 to neurovascular dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease, thus providing new mechanistic and therapeutic insights into the disease.
Original research paper: Nature Med. 11, 959 – 965, (2005) |
 | Gene Regulation: All silent on the transcription front
Two new gene silencing methods that place peptide nucleic acid (PNA) or RNA-directed against the genomic DNA sequence at the transcription start site have been shown to effectively knock down target gene expression.
Original research paper: Nat. Chem. Biol. 1, 210 – 215, (2005) |
 | Apoptosis: Bcl-XL key to the ER gateway
The anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member Bcl-XL localizes to the ER to confer resistance to apoptosis through the regulation of the inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor (InsP3R) Ca2+ release channel.
Original research paper: Nature Cell Biology 7, 1021 – 1028, (2005) |
 | Mechanism of disease: Portrait of anaemia in sir zebrafish
A group of scientists studying the zebrafish shiraz (sir) mutant, have uncovered a link between two important pathways — the formation of Fe-S clusters and the production of heme.
Original research paper: Nature 436, 1035 – 1039, (2005) |
 | Signalling: Turning off the tap
Downstream targets of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, such as the ephrin receptor A2 (EPHA2), mediate a negative feedback loop that is lost in cancer cells.
Original research paper: Cancer Cell 8, 111 – 118, (2005) |
 | Genomics: Closest relative sequenced
Given the fact that humans and chimps are so closely related, the first sequence analyzes of the chimpanzee genome are focusing on differences rather than similarities.
Original research paper: Nature 436, 69 – 87, (2005) |
 | Development: Odd SOX
Unlike the HMG-box transcription factors Sox1, Sox2 and Sox3, which maintain neural cells in an undifferentiated state, Sox21 promotes neuronal differentiation in vertebrates.
Original research paper: Nature Neurosci. 8, 995 – 1001, (2005) |
 | Inflammation: Cooling the inflammatory response
Two groups have shown that PI3Kγ inhibition disrupts leukocyte activation and migration in chronic inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
Original research paper: Nature Med. 11, 936 – 943, (2005) |
 | Genomics: Getting back to points of origin
A new analytical strategy allows researchers to map origins of replication within long stretches of genomic DNA.
Original research paper: Mol. Cell 19, 567 – 575, (2005) |
