News ArticlesThe evolution of nuclear specklesThe nucleus of mammalian cells is highly compartmentalized both in terms of DNA and protein organization. Speckles are large membrane-less irregularly shaped nuclear condensates with a dynamic composition of hundreds of different proteins, many of which are involved in RNA splicing. Evidence from recent studies points towards an interesting connection between the evolution of nuclear speckles and genome structure in terms of base composition, gene clustering and 3D-genome organization...Read more Optineurin as a key player in GOMEDThe ability to degrade intracellular proteins in a controlled manner is an important cellular function. It is utilized to remove and recycle unnecessary, damaged and/or harmful components, which is an essential ability to maintain cellular homeostasis and health. The most well-known routes to selective degradation of proteins are proteasomal degradation and selective autophagy. In both pathways, proteins targeted for degradation are marked polyubiquitination (polyUb), with chains that are linked at lysine K48 and K63, respectively...Read more Transcription factors SP5 and SP8 regulate primary cilia formation during embryogenesisPrimary cilia are thin projections that are present on most cell types and that serve critical functions during multiple biological processes, including embryonic development. They are present in a single copy per cell and act much like an antenna, receiving and sending signals to the environment. This makes them crucial for coordinating cellular processes early in life...Read more Targeting β-catenin in liver cancerCancer is a leading cause of death in every country of the world and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is third in line in terms of mortality (Sung, 2021). In the past few years, immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has become a common treatment route for HCC, but a large proportion of patients are resistant to such treatments...Read more An important role for actin in unconventional mitosisMitosis is the fundamental process by which genetic information is passed from a parental cell to two daughter cells. The crucial role of the microtubule cytoskeleton and the centrosomes in this process is well known, and still early mouse embryo lack centrosomes. In a study published in Cell researches have found an explanation to this paradox...Read more |