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.
 | Inflammation: Mrp8 and Mrp14 raise the death Toll
Binding of Toll-like receptor 4 to the neutrophil and monocyte cytoplasmic proteins Mrp8 and Mrp14 and the bacterial antigen lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces a signaling cascade that leads to septic shock.
Original research paper: Nature Medicine 13, 1042-1049 (2007) |
 | Brain stem cells: Progenitors knocked down a Notch
Intermediate progenitor cells in the brain employ a non-canonical Notch signaling pathway to arrest their differentiation into neurons.
Original research paper: Nature 449, 351-355 (2007) |
 | NF-κB activation: Rel-ative contribution of MALT1 and Bcl-10
The scaffold proteins MALT1 and Bcl-10 couple B-cell receptor signaling to NF-κB function through selective activation of the NF-κB subunit c-Rel.
Original research paper: Nature Immunology 8, 984-991 (2007) |
 | Neuroblast proliferation: Numb-ing the tendency to differentiate
Polo-mediated phosphorylation of Pon promotes proper subcellular localization of Numb and limits self-renewal of Drosophila neural progenitor cells.
Original research paper: Nature 449, 96-100 (2007) |
 | Cell polarity: Acquiring direction from new contacts
The formation of the basolateral membrane and the E-cadherin-mediated formation of cell–cell contacts are mechanistically linked, suggesting that changes in cell adhesion can regulate the establishment of cell polarity.
Original research paper: J. Cell Biol. 178, 323–335 (2007) |
 | T cells: Notch and GATA3 join forces
The discovery that Notch regulates Gata3 expression shows that these master regulators of intrathymic T-lineage fate determination and T helper 2 cell differentiation are directly connected.
Original research paper: Immunity 27, 89–99 (2007) |
 | In brief: September 2007
Ageing | Cell adhesion | Telomeres | T cells | B cells | Autoimmunity | MicroRNA | Prostate cancer | Oncogenes | Microbial genetics | Gene regulation | Addiction | Development | Inflammatory disorders | RNA interference | Genomics |
 | Technology: On the trail of transcription factors
By utilizing the binding properties of two yeast proteins, researchers have now identified for the first time a method to determine which proteins bind to a certain DNA sequence
Original research paper: Genome Res. 17, 1202–1209 (2007) |
 | Neurological disease: Rescuing from toxicity
Inhibitors of sirtuin 2 (SIRT2) — a member of the histone deacetylase family of enzymes — rescues α-synuclein-mediated toxicity in models of Parkinson's disease by increasing inclusion formation.
Original research paper: Science 317, 516–519 (2007) |
 | Gene regulation: Switching genes off—all the way
A modular genetic switch that tightly regulates gene expression in mammalian cells will be useful in the design of complex synthetic gene circuits.
Original research paper: Cell 130, 363–372 (2007) |
 | Bacterial pathogenesis: Two steps further forward for Listeria
Elucidation of the crystal structure of the Listeria monocytogenes protein internalin B in complex with its tyrosine kinase Met receptor, and the creation of a new mouse model of listeriosis will greatly aid the understanding of Listeria.
Original research paper: Cell 130, 235–246 (2007) |
 | Networks: The complexity of adhesion
The integrin adhesome interaction map outlines the molecular basis of integrin-mediated adhesion and signaling by defining the functional interactions of 156 adhesion-related molecules.
Original research paper: Nature Cell Biol. 9, 858–867 (2007) |
 | Immune regulation: Linking integrins, TGFβ and autoimmunity
Loss of αVβ8 integrin in dendritic cells (DCs) results in severe inflammatory bowel disease and autoimmunity in mice, indicating an important role for αVβ8 in the prevention of immune dysfunction.
Original research paper: Nature 449, 361-365 (2007) |
 | Leukaemia: Xceptional target?
Two studies find a critical role for retinoid X receptor α (RXRα) in the development of acute promyelocytic leukemia, highlighting RXRα as a potential target for the development of anti-cancer therapies.
Original research paper: Cancer Cell 12, 36–51 (2007) |
 | Mouse models: Restricted in time and space
A mouse model of soft tissue sarcomas with conditional p53 and K-Ras mutations faithfully replicates key facets of the human disease and may prove to be an excellent model to study the pathogenesis of sarcoma.
Original research paper: Nature Medicine 13, 992–997 (2007) |
 | Ageing: Getting old and cancer: hand-in-hand?
Combined overexpression of the tumor suppressor proteins p53 and ARF increases the protective response to oxidative stress in mice, significantly extending their lifespan and preventing the development of cancer.
Original research paper: Nature 448, 375–379 (2007) |
 | Sleep regulation: ppERK, sleep & fly
The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway impinges on extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) to regulate sleep in Drosophila.
Original research paper: Nature Neurosci. 10, 1160–1167 (2007) |
 | Gene regulation: Transcription factors come to call
By fusing transcription factors to a protein that recruits bar-coded transposons, researchers can identify the genomic sites visited by these DNA-binding proteins.
Original research paper: Genome Res. 17, 1202–1209 (2007) |
 | Cell signalling: A ciliary sensor
The activity of the Hedgehog signaling pathway is regulated through the transport of key signaling proteins into and out of a single immotile primary cilium that projects into the extracellular space.
Original research paper: Science 317, 372–376 (2007) |
 | Chemokines: Dictating migration
The expression of CCL21 and CXCL13 in lymphoid tissues is transiently reduced during immune responses, resulting in altered lymphocyte and dendritic cell (DC) migration.
Original research paper: Science 317, 670–674 (2007) |
 | Breast cancer: A striking resemblance
Genetically engineered mice with somatic loss of BRCA1 and p53 develop tumors with similar morphology and drug resistance patterns to human basal-like breast cancer, thereby validating the use of this mouse model.
Original research paper: Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 12111–12116 (2007) |
 | Vesicular trafficking: The endocytic puzzle
Epidermal growth factor receptor pathway substrate clone 15 (Eps15) controls synaptic vesicle endocytosis and is also involved in synapse development in Drosophila.
Original research paper: J. Cell Biol. 178, 309–322 (2007) |
 | Cardiovascular diseases: Periostin regenerates broken heart
Following myocardial infarction, cardiomyocytes can be induced to proliferate by a recombinant protein known as periostin, resulting in improved cardiac function.
Original research paper: Nature Med. 13, 962–969 (2007) |
 | Bacterial physiology: Chilling out away from the crowds
Escherichia coli has a unique density-dependent mechanism for switching its response to temperature that is mediated through the methylation of receptors for aspartate, serine and glycine.
Original research paper: Nature Cell Biol. 9, 1098–1100 (2007) |
 | Ageing: A new player in the old game
Three papers show that Wnt signaling makes an unexpected contribution to cellular ageing.
Original research paper: Science 317, 803–806 (2007) |
 | Autoimmunity: Monocytes take centre stage
A subset of monocytes has been shown to have a pivotal role in T-cell-mediated attenuation of autoimmune disease in the central nervous system (CNS).
Original research paper: Nature Med. 13, 935–943 (2007) |
 | T cells: New regulator of calcium signalling
SWAP70-like adaptor of T cells (SLAT) controls calcium signaling and is required for T-cell development, activation and effector function.
Original research paper: J. Clin. Invest. 117, 2164–2175 (2007) |
 | Tumour suppressors: The dark side of p27
As well as having a role as a cell-cycle inhibitor, the tumor suppressor p27 can also behave as a dominant oncoprotein in vivo.
Original research paper: Genes Dev. 21, 1731–1746 (2007) |
 | Oncogenes: Translocation
Two studies focusing on prostate cancer and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have shown that gene fusions may be central to solid tumor pathogenesis.
Original research paper: Nature 448, 561–566 (2007) |
 | Behaviour: The subtle difference between the sexes
Vomeronasal neurons expressing the Trpc2 ion channel are important for female-specific traits in mating and social behavior in mice.
Original research paper: Nature 448, 1009–1014 (2007) |
 | Obesity: Stress and obesity connect at NPY
Stress-triggered release of neuropeptide Y (NPY) can also directly stimulate fat angiogenesis in the periphery, as well as the proliferation and differentiation of new fat cells.
Original research paper: Nature Med. 13, 803–811 (2007) |
 | Fungal development: Differential regulation of septation
Septation occurs during both vegetative growth and conidiation in filamentous fungi; however, these two septation pathways are differentially regulated.
Original research paper: Euk. Cell 6, 1097–1107 (2007) |
