News & Comment

Barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) forms a layer on the surface of chromatin at late mitosis, guiding the reformation of a single nuclear envelope surrounding all chromosomes.

A new imaging technique (ChromEMT) enables the visualization of the local polymer structure and global 3D organization of chromatin in the nucleus of intact interphase and mitotic human cells.

In yeast, mitotic chromosome condensation is achieved bycis-chromatin looping, a process in which cohesin and condensin have distinct roles.

The skin is able to counteract tissue aberrancies resulting from tissue overgrowth and to restore normal tissue architecture by eliminating aberrant cells.

CRISPR–Cas9 was used in human embryos to correct a dominant heterozygous gene mutation that causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Sirtuin 1 deacetylates polyadenylate-binding protein 1 (PABP1), thereby suppressing nuclear export of polyadenylated mRNAs and translation to preserve energy under stress.

The lincRNANeat1is a p53 target gene that can suppress the initiation of pancreatic cancer.

Patterns of histone H3 Lys27 trimethylation are maternally inherited in both fly and mammalian embryos, and control gene expression during early development.

Following irradiation, adipocytes derived from a specified subset of leptin receptor-positive cells in the bone marrow become a major source of stem cell factor for haematopoietic regeneration.

Two papers report a new mechanism of controlling alternative splicing through phase separation-mediated formation of higher-order assemblies of splicing factors.

Changes in endoplasmic reticulum membrane composition induce the oligomerization of Ire1 and activate the unfolded protein response.

DNA replication regulates nucleosome dynamics at the promoter of a negative element of the circadian clock, thereby providing regulatory feedback into circadian rhythms.

Two studies report the generation of human colonic organoids, which could be useful for disease modelling and drug testing.

The oligomerization of scaffold attachment factor A through its binding to chromatin-associated RNAs regulates the structure of interphase chromosomes.

Inhibitors of DNA methyltransferases and of histone deacetylases induce transcription from cryptic transposable elements, which results in 5′-truncated and mis-spliced proteins that may increase cancer immunogenicity.

Various proteins interact with ribosomes — this ribosome–protein interactome functionally diversifies ribosomes, thereby providing an additional means of translation regulation.

A modification of Meselson and Stahl's density gradient centrifugation method and a rare Texan yeast helped show that eukaryotic ribosomes dissociate and reform during translation.

During metabolic stress in cancer cells, ACSS2 binds to TFEB to locally boost the production of acetyl-CoA, thereby facilitating the expression of lysosomal and autophagy genes.

Thomas D. Pollard discusses the early work of Thompson and Wolpert on cytoplasmic extract from amoebae, which laid the foundation for studies of actin-driven cell motility.

Extended synaptotagmins that tether ER and cell membranes also promote autophagy by regulating phosphoinositide 3-kinase.