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.
 | Cell signaling: It's good to talk
Cell-specific signaling networks during the interaction between cells.
Original research paper: Science 326, 1502-1509 (2009) |
 | Calcium signaling: STIM1 and ORAI1 alone
A clever yeast-based system clears up confusion over store-operated calcium entry in mammals.
Original research paper: Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 17, 112-116 (2009) |
 | Germ cells go it alone: E-cadherin, Rac 'n' Rho
Rac1- and RhoA-mediated actin dynamics and E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion are all required for single-cell motility in vivo.
Original research paper: Nature Cell Biology 12, 47-53 (2009) |
 | Senescence: A key role for Cdk2
The loss of Cdk2 promotes cellular senescence in response to oxidative stress or Myc signaling.
Original research paper: Nature Cell Biology 12, 54-59 (2009) |
 | Neurodegenerative disease: Synergistic destruction
Amyloid–β and tau synergistically impair mitochondrial function in AD mice.
Original research paper: Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 20057-20062 (2009) |
 | Protein degradation: Step by step
Ubiquitin chains are built by sequential transfer of single molecules.
Original research paper: Cell 139, 957-968 (2009) |
 | Innate immunity: MicroRNAs limit LPS lethality
Pro-inflammatory protein PDCD4 targeted by microRNA tempers LPS toxicity.
Original research paper: Nature Immunol. 11, 141-147 (2009) |
 | Senescence: A family trait
TAp63 induces senescence and suppresses cancer growth in vivo.
Original research paper: Nature Cell Biol. 11, 1451-1457 (2009) |
 | Chemical biology: Caught in action
Screening reveals a chemical activator that triggers apoptosis by locking inactive but dynamic proenzymes into a more active state, suggesting a promising strategy for targeting proteases.
Original research paper: Science 326, 853-858 (2009) |
 | Endocytosis: WASHed and sorted
Two studies show that WASH has a role in endosomal sorting.
Original research paper: Dev. Cell 17, 699-711 (2009) |
 | Signalling: All roads lead to YAP1
Given that the hippo tumor suppressor pathway regulates organ size and proliferation, researchers investigated whether this pathway is involved in development.
Original research paper: Genes & Dev. 23, 2729-2741 (2009) |
 | Cancer: Small losses, big gains with microRNAs
A new study in mice shows that heterozygous loss of Dicer, a crucial component of the microRNA (miRNA) processing machinery, might explain the global decrease in miRNA expression often seen in tumors.
Original research paper: Genes Dev. 23, 2700-2704 (2009) |
 | Neurological disorders: Inhibition: too much of a good thing?
A new paper reveals that enhanced neuronal inhibition causes seizures in several animal models of absence epilepsy.
Original research paper: Nature Med. 15, 1392-1398 (2009) |
 | Sumoylation: Wrestling with filaments
A new study provides insight into the regulation of intermediate filament assembly by sumoylation of the cytoplasmic intermediate filament protein B-1A (IFB-1A).
Original research paper: Dev. Cell 17, 724-35 (2009) |
 | T cell signalling: CD3 conformation is crucial for signalling
Induction of a conformational change in the intracellular portion of CD3 regulates activation of T cell receptor (TCR) signaling.
Original research paper: PLoS Biol. 7, e1000253 (2009) |
 | Synaptic plasticity: Plasticity moves upstream
Retrograde spread of long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) in vivo requires brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling and nitric oxide (NO) signaling, respectively, and coordinates synaptic changes in neural circuits during development.
Original research paper: Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 106, 18890-18896 (2009) |
 | Genomics: A family tree in a tumor
A new technique finds genomic subpopulations to indicate cancer progression.
Original research paper: Genome Res. 20, 68-80 (2010) |
 | Signalling: Different strokes
EphB receptors regulate cell proliferation and migration through two distinct downstream signaling pathways, which present potential drug targets for the treatment of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP).
Original research paper: Cell 139, 679-692 (2009) |
 | Signalling: ABA's greatest hits
The mechanism by which the recently identified abscisic acid (ABA) receptors bind ABA and positively regulate ABA signaling has been revealed.
Original research paper: Nature 462, 660-664 (2009) |
 | Metastasis: Self-renewal migrates onwards
ZEB1 supports both the epithelial–mesenchymal transition and stem-cell characteristics by selectively suppressing the expression of the miR-200 family of microRNAs.
Original research paper: Nature Cell Biol. 11, 1487-1495 (2009) |
 | Small RNAs: Sorting the strands
The complementary strand of a nascent duplex microRNA molecule, known as miRNA*, might also have a regulatory function in Drosophila melanogaster.
Original research paper: Mol. Cell 36, 431-444 (2009) |
 | Proteomics: The importance of being negative
The Negatome is a database of non-interacting protein pairs that can be used for training protein–protein interaction prediction algorithms.
Original research paper: Nucleic Acids Res. 38, D540-D544 (2010) |
 | Innate immunity: Bacteria ensure injury is only skin deep
Some commensal organisms help to limit the inflammatory response by acting as negative regulators of Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) signaling.
Original research paper: Nature Med. 15, 1377-1382 (2009) |
