Reviews & Analysis

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  • A series of new crystal structures of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases sheds new light on the evolution of specificity in this ancient family of enzymes.

    • Stephen Cusack
    Progress
  • In cytochrome c, the unfolding reaction occurs in four discreet stops, as monitored by the exchange of solvent hydrogen for backbone aminde hydrogens under varying denaturant concentrations.

    • Neville R. Kallenbach
    News & Views
  • Direct NMR observation of a transient folding intermediate provides new evidence for the importance of molten globules as general intermediates in protein folding.

    • Heinrich Roder
    News & Views
  • Identification of the residues involved in the reaction catalysed by aldehyde reductase should aid in the development of drugs for the treatment of diabetic complications.

    • David H. T. Harrison
    News & Views
  • NMR structures of calmodulin, troponin C and related proteins are providing the atomic details of the conformational changes that transduce Ca2+ signals into mechanical or metabolic responses.

    • Walter J. Chazin
    News & Views
  • The structure of the apo form of calcyclin, a member of the S100 family of calcium-binding proteins, reveals a novel dimer fold that may reflect the presence of a new interface for target protein recognition.

    • Joachim Krebs
    • Manfredo Quadroni
    • Linda J. Van Eldik
    News & Views
  • Pleckstrin homology (PH) domains bind to membrane surfaces, and inositol phospholipids appear to form part of the binding sites. Recent structural studies provide a model for PH domain anchoring to inositol phospholipids that will open new avenues for functional investigation.

    • Kathryn M. Ferguson
    • Mark A. Lemmon
    • Joseph Schlessinger
    News & Views
  • Dimeric proteins can arise from monomers by the simple exchange of secondary structural elements or a wholesale swapping of domains. These results have implications for the construction of novel oligomeric molecules and illuminate how existing structures may have evolved.

    • Robert J. Fletterick
    • J. Fernando Bazan
    News & Views
  • The structure of γδ resolvase complexed with a DNA cleavage site provides new insights into how resolvase accomplishes site-specific DNA recombination.

    • Robert Craigie
    News & Views
  • The solution structure of the complex of the SRY HMG-domain with DNA provides clues to the mechanism of sequence recognition in the minor groove.

    • Andrew A. Travers
    News & Views
  • The second structure of a hammerhead ribozyme provides intriguing hints as to the mechanism of these RNA machines.

    • Olke C. Uhlenbeck
    News & Views
  • Structural analysis reveals mechanisms of drug resistance to HIV-1 protease inhibitors. These results have implications for the design of drugs and therapeutic strategies to combat drug resistance in AIDS.

    • John W. Erickson
    News & Views
  • Proteins that interact with RNA are now yielding to high-resolution structural analysis and these studies are going hand-in-hand with dissection of the RNA processing machinery of the spliceosome.

    • Iain W. Mattaj
    • Kiyoshi Nagai
    News & Views
  • Examination of recent protein structures in the light of present views on the mechanism of protein folding provides clues as to events that may occur during the folding process.

    • Christopher M. Dobson
    News & Views
  • A new structure of a plant lectin-saccharide complex shows how this protein presents a high density of sugar-binding sites. Comparison with other lectin structures reveals some emerging patterns in the arrangements of multiple ligand-binding sites in various lectin families.

    • Kurt Drickamer
    News & Views
  • Iterative protein structure-based ligand design has led to a ‘selective’ inhibitor of human non-pancreatic secretory phospholipase A2 which provides a new tool for probing metabolic pathways and may lead to a useful drug.

    • Christophe L.M.J. Verlinde
    • Bauke W. Dijkstra
    News & Views
  • The structure determination of an anti-tumour antibody in complex with its Lewis Y carbohydrate antigen is a timely reminder of the historical and immunological importance of antibodies against polysaccharides, as well as their potential medical uses as diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.

    • Ian A. Wilson
    • Robyn L. Stanfield
    News & Views
  • A defined, spontaneous protein folding defect can act as a common link between lung and liver diseases associated with the Z type of plasma α1-antitrypsin deficiency.

    • Richard N. Sifers
    News & Views
  • The determination of the crystal structure of the ribonuclease inhibitor-ribonuclease A complex provides exciting new insight on how the leucine-rich repeat allows a single molecule to get around the problem of inhibiting an entire family of enzymes.

    • Robert Shapiro
    • James F. Riordan
    • Bert L. Vallee
    News & Views
  • Water molecules and DNA conformation are now recognized as ingredients which can influence both the affinity and specificity of protein/DNA complexes.

    • Nicola D. Arbuckle
    • Ben Luisi
    News & Views