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.
 | TLR signaling: Promptly promoting pathogen phagocytosis
Simulation of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) in human macrophages promotes phagocytosis of extracellular organisms by stimulating signaling pathways traditionally associated with autophagy.
Original research paper: Nature 450, 1253-1257 (2007) |
 | Cancer signaling: MUC1 mucks up apoptosis
The glycoprotein MUC1 may support apoptosis evasion of cancer cells by constitutive nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation.
Original research paper: Nature Cell Biology 9, 1419-1427 (2007) |
 | Collective cell invasion: Following the leader's tracks
Stromal fibroblasts lead collective cell invasion by deforming the extracellular matrix, thus creating channels that are exploited by the carcinoma cells that follow behind.
Original research paper: Nat. Cell Biol. 9, 1392-1400 (2007) |
 | Cell migration: Invasion of the pseudopods
The small GTPase RAB25 directly interacts with and localizes α5β1 integrin at the pseudopodial tips of migrating cells, thereby promoting the invasive migration of cancer cells.
Original research paper: Dev. Cell 13, 496-510 (2007) |
 | Cytokines: TNF rises to the occasion
The tumor-necrosis factor (TNF) receptors TNFR1 and TNFR2 may be essential for the detection and response to spontaneous malignancies, raising concerns about the use of TNF antagonists in patients with cancer or autoimmune disease.
Original research paper: J. Clin. Invest. 117, 3833-3845 (2007) |
 | In brief: December 2007
Lipid trafficking | Infectious disease | Mathematical models | Cancer symptoms | Cancer stem cells | Cancer | Neurotrophins | Neurological disorders | Vaccines |
 | Angiogenesis: Another target
Tumor cell growth is blocked by the inhibition of placental growth factor (PGF), a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) homologue that selectively binds to VEGF receptor 1, suggesting that PGF could be a potential target for the development of novel anti-cancer therapies.
Original research paper: Cell 131, 463-475 (2007) |
 | Tumour suppressors: WIP'ping up a storm
Additional complexity is added to the known feedback loop between p53 and the ubiquitin ligase MDM2 by the observation that wild-type p53-induced phosphatase 1 (WIP1) binds to and dephosphorylates MDM2, which indirectly reduces p53 expression.
Original research paper: Cancer Cell 12, 342-354 (2007) |
 | Tumour microenvironment: Inside moving out
Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling induces proliferating endothelial cells to undergo an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, which generates a pool of activated fibroblasts in solid tumors.
Original research paper: Cancer Res. 67, 10123-10128 (2007) |
 | Fungal genetics: Unravelling the network
'ChIP on chip' chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses have unraveled the interlocking network of positive-feedback loops that control the phenomenon of white–opaque switching in Candida albicans.
Original research paper: PLoS Biol. 5, e256 (2007) |
 | DNA-damage response: Chewing at the ends
CtIP interacts with the MRE11–RAD50–NBS1 (MRN) complex to regulate the resection of double-strand DNA breaks during homologous recombination and DNA repair.
Original research paper: Nature 450, 509-514 (2007) |
 | Innate immunity: DUBA dims IFN production
DUBA (deubiquitylating enzyme A) negatively regulates the production of the antiviral type I interferons IFNα and IFNβ, supporting an important role for reversible ubiquitylation in the regulation of the innate immune system.
Original research paper: Science 318, 1628-1632 (2007) |
 | Tumorigenesis: Taking an alternative route
The polycomb group (PcG) gene BMI1 is known to repress transciption of the tumor suppressors INK4a and ARF; however, BMI1 can also promote tumorigenesis through an unknown mechanism that is independent of INK4a and ARF.
Original research paper: Cancer Cell 12, 328-341 (2007) |
 | Learning and memory: A memorable encounter
Noradrenaline is involved in memory formation by regulating the phosphorylation of GluR1, a subunit of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazoleproprionic acid (AMPA) receptors, which then facilitates the insertion of these receptors at postsynaptic sites.
Original research paper: Cell 131, 160-173 (2007) |
 | Immunomodulators: Enhancing regulation
Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACis) inhibit the inflammation response by increasing the number and suppression capacity of regulatory T cells (Treg cells), which are key mediators of immune tolerance.
Original research paper: Nature Med. 13, 1299-1307 (2007) |
 | Bacterial virulence: The integrin connection
The gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori hijacks the host cell's α5β1 integrin receptor to inject the CagA oncoprotein into gastric epithelial cells and ensure that it is phosphorylated by the tyrosine kinase Src.
Original research paper: Nature 449, 862-866 (2007) |
 | Cell cycle: Passengers travel together
As the chromosomal passenger complex (CPC) must be delivered to substrates under strict spatiotemporal conditions to regulate mitotic progress, studies examining the composition of the CPC have now shed light on how this complex promotes cell cycle progression.
Original research paper: Cell 131, 271-285 (2007) |
 | Inflammation: The JNK diet
JUN N-terminal kinase 1 (JNK1) promotes obesity-induced insulin resistance by regulating lipid accumulation in hematopoetic cells and promoting obesity-associated inflammation in non-hematopoetic cells.
Original research paper: Cell Metab. 6, 386-397 (2007) |
 | Leukaemia: A TALE of one Meis
The three-amino-acid loop extension (TALE) homeodomain protein MEIS1 induces and maintains mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) cancers by forming a DNA-binding transcriptional complex that promotes MLL oncogenic transformation.
Original research paper: Genes Dev. 21, 2762-2774 (2007) |
 | Cancer genomics: Combing the genome for cancer genes
Two studies evaluating gene mutation and copy-number variation in tumors have found that many cancer-associated genes are specific to relatively small subsets of tumors.
Original research paper: Science 318, 1108-1113 (2007) |
 | Molecular neuroscience: Fat chance of survival
Mice that lack VAC14, a key regulator of phosphatidylinositol-3,5-bisphosphate (PI(3,5)P2) synthesis, develop brain lesions with high levels of apoptosis, supporting an important role for PI(3,5)P2 in neuronal survival.
Original research paper: Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 17518-17523 (2007) |
 | Antivirals: MicroRNA versus virus: uncovering new layers of complexity
MicroRNA molecules help the immune system battle the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) by inhibiting replication and translation of viral genes.
Original research paper: Nature 449, 919-922 (2007) |
 | Malaria: Malaria and the liver: exploring the silent pathway
The circumsporozoite protein (CSP) from the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium translocates to the nucleus in liver cells and interferes with the nuclear localization of nuclear factor (NF)-κB, thus enhancing parasite growth and development.
Original research paper: Cell 131, 492-504 (2007) |
