Developing a Journal's Influence Without Impact Factor Madness: Quality in Shape
(Source: BioEssays)
Source: BioEssays - January 1, 2018 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Andrew Moore Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
Single Pair F örster Resonance Energy Transfer: A Versatile Tool To Investigate Protein Conformational Dynamics
Conformational changes of proteins and other biomolecules play a fundamental role in their functional mechanism. Single pair Förster resonance energy transfer (spFRET) offers the possibility to detect these conformational changes and dynamics, and to characterize their underlying kinetics. Using spFRET on microscopes with different modes of detection, dynamic timescales ranging from nanoseconds to seconds can be quantified. Confocal microscopy can be used as a means to analyze dynamics in the range of nanoseconds to milliseconds, while total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy offers information about confo...
Source: BioEssays - January 1, 2018 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Lena Voith von Voithenberg, Don C. Lamb Tags: Prospects & Overviews Source Type: research
Explaining the Origin of Three ‐Membrane‐Bound Plastids in Dinoflagellates and Euglenophytes: Kleptoplastidy via Myzocytosis?
(Source: BioEssays)
Source: BioEssays - December 29, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Daniel Moog, Uwe G. Maier Tags: Thoughts & Opinion Source Type: research
Cell Size Control via an Unstable Accumulating Activator and the Phenomenon of Excess Mitotic Delay
Unstable Accumulating Activator models for cellular size control propose an activator that accumulates in a size‐dependent manner and triggers cell cycle progression once it has reached a certain threshold. Having a short half life makes such an activator responsive to changes in cell size and makes specific predictions for how cells respond to perturbation. In particular, it explains the curious phenomenon of excess mitotic delay. Excess mitotic delay, first observed in Tetrahymena in the '50s, is a phenomenon in which a pulse of protein synthesis inhibition causes a delay in mitotic entry that is longer than the pulse ...
Source: BioEssays - December 28, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Nicholas Rhind Tags: Prospects & Overviews Source Type: research
Noise in the Machine: Alternative Pathway Sampling is the Rule During DNA Replication
The astonishing efficiency and accuracy of DNA replication has long suggested that refined rules enforce a single highly reproducible sequence of molecular events during the process. This view was solidified by early demonstrations that DNA unwinding and synthesis are coupled within a stable molecular factory, known as the replisome, which consists of conserved components that each play unique and complementary roles. However, recent single‐molecule observations of replisome dynamics have begun to challenge this view, revealing that replication may not be defined by a uniform sequence of events. Instead, multiple exchang...
Source: BioEssays - December 28, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Matthias J. Scherr, Barbara Safaric, Karl E. Duderstadt Tags: Insights & Perspectives Source Type: research
Analyzing Horizontal Transfer of Transposable Elements on a Large Scale: Challenges and Prospects
Whoever compares the genomes of distantly related species might find aberrantly high sequence similarity at certain loci. Such anomaly can only be explained by genetic material being transferred through other means than reproduction, that is, a horizontal transfer (HT). Between multicellular organisms, the transferred material will likely turn out to be a transposable element (TE). Because TEs can move between loci and invade chromosomes by replicating themselves, HT of TEs (HTT) profoundly impacts genome evolution. Yet, very few studies have quantified HTT at large taxonomic scales. Indeed, this task currently faces diffi...
Source: BioEssays - December 28, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Jean Peccoud, Richard Cordaux, Cl ément Gilbert Tags: Prospects & Overviews Source Type: research
Transmembrane Signal Transduction in Two ‐Component Systems: Piston, Scissoring, or Helical Rotation?
Allosteric and transmembrane (TM) signaling are among the major questions of structural biology. Here, we review and discuss signal transduction in four‐helical TM bundles, focusing on histidine kinases and chemoreceptors found in two‐component systems. Previously, piston, scissors, and helical rotation have been proposed as the mechanisms of TM signaling. We discuss theoretically possible conformational changes and examine the available experimental data, including the recent crystallographic structures of nitrate/nitrite sensor histidine kinase NarQ and phototaxis system NpSRII:NpHtrII. We show that TM helices can fl...
Source: BioEssays - December 27, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Ivan Gushchin, Valentin Gordeliy Tags: Prospects & Overviews Source Type: research
The Many Roles of Type II Phosphatidylinositol 4 ‐Kinases in Membrane Trafficking: New Tricks for Old Dogs
The type II phosphatidylinositol 4‐kinases (PI4KIIs) produce the lipid phosphatidylinositol 4‐phosphate (PtdIns4P) and participate in a confusing variety of membrane trafficking and signaling roles. This review argues that both historical and contemporary evidence supports the function of the PI4KIIs in numerous trafficking pathways, and that the key to understanding the enzymatic regulation is through membrane interaction and the intrinsic membrane environment. By summarizing new research and examining the trafficking roles of the PI4KIIs in the context of recently solved molecular structures, I highlight how mechanis...
Source: BioEssays - December 27, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Shane Minogue Tags: Prospects & Overviews Source Type: research
When MicroRNAs Meet RNA Editing in Cancer: A Nucleotide Change Can Make a Difference
RNA editing is a major post‐transcriptional mechanism that changes specific nucleotides at the RNA level. The most common RNA editing type in humans is adenosine (A) to inosine (I) editing, which is mediated by ADAR enzymes. RNA editing events can not only change amino acids in proteins, but also affect the functions of non‐coding RNAs such as miRNAs. Recent studies have characterized thousands of miRNA RNA editing events across different cancer types. Importantly, individual cases of miRNA editing have been reported to play a role in cancer development. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of miRNA editi...
Source: BioEssays - December 27, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Yumeng Wang, Han Liang Tags: REVIEW ESSAY Source Type: research
Microbiome ‐Germline Interactions and Their Transgenerational Implications
It is becoming increasingly clear that most, if not all, animals and plants are associated with a diverse array of resident gut microbiota. This symbiosis is regulated by host‐microbiome interactions which influence the development, homeostasis, adaptation and evolution of the host. Recent evidence indicated that these interactions can also affect the host germline and have a potential of supporting transgenerational effects, including inheritance of acquired characteristics. Taken together, the influence of gut bacteria on the host soma and germline could potentially give rise to emergent phenotypes, which may be partia...
Source: BioEssays - December 21, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Michael Elgart, Yoav Soen Tags: Prospects & Overviews Source Type: research
Microbiome ‐Germline Interactions and Their Transgenerational Implications
BioEssays, EarlyView. (Source: BioEssays)
Source: BioEssays - December 21, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
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BioEssays, Ahead of Print. (Source: BioEssays)
Source: BioEssays - December 21, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
RNase III Nucleases and the Evolution of Antiviral Systems
Every living entity requires the capacity to defend against viruses in some form. From bacteria to plants to arthropods, cells retain the capacity to capture genetic material, process it in a variety of ways, and subsequently use it to generate pathogen‐specific small RNAs. These small RNAs can then be used to provide specificity to an otherwise non‐specific nuclease, generating a potent antiviral system. While small RNA‐based defenses in chordates are less utilized, the protein‐based antiviral invention in this phylum appears to have derived from components of the same ancestral small RNA machinery. Based on recen...
Source: BioEssays - December 21, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Lauren C. Aguado, Benjamin R. tenOever Tags: Prospects & Overviews Source Type: research
BioEssays 1 ∕2018
(Source: BioEssays)
Source: BioEssays - December 21, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Tags: Masthead Source Type: research
BioEssays 1 ∕2018
Microbial influences on the amygdala. The amygdala plays a central role in regulating many aspects of behaviour in rodents and humans, from pain responding to social interaction and psychiatric function. As discussed by Cowan et al. in article number 1700172, accumulating evidence suggests that microbiota‐to‐amygdala communication along the gut‐brain axis is a key modulator of these amygdala‐dependent behaviours, with critical implications for health and disease. (Source: BioEssays)
Source: BioEssays - December 21, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Tags: Cover Picture Source Type: research
