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[
Dev Cell,
2007]
The C. elegans male sex-determining protein, FEM-1, has been identified as a substrate recognition subunit of a Cullin-2 ubiquitin ligase complex. This complex controls the level of TRA-1A, a Ci/Gli homolog and master regulator of sex determination, by ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis.
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[
Cell,
2009]
Meiotic chromosome pairs must receive at least one crossover to ensure proper segregation at the first meiotic division. Mets and Meyer (2009) now present compelling evidence that the establishment of higher-order chromosome structure by a condensin complex regulates crossover recombination by controlling the distribution and frequency of meiotic double-strand breaks.
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[
Curr Biol,
2013]
The tumor suppressor Rb is known to have its hand in many pots. New findings have added another pot to the mix - cell metabolism. This may lead to a better understanding of Rb mutant phenotypes and Rb's roles in oncogenesis.
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[
Dev Cell,
2002]
In migrating cells, Rho family GTPases and their effectors play a central role in polarizing and in organizing the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons. A study by Fukata et al. in the June 28th issue of Cell now shows that the Rac1/Cdc42 effector IQGAP1 captures microtubules by binding to CLIP170.
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[
Cancer Cell,
2013]
There is much interest in defining the nutrient dependencies of cancer cells and their mechanisms of adaptation to nutrient depletion. In a recent issue of Cell, Leprivier and colleagues demonstrate that eEF2K, which can inhibit translation elongation acutely during protein synthesis, is a critical switch in the survival versus death fate of starved cancer cells.
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[
Elife,
2015]
The abnormal accumulation of fat increases the lifespans of nematodes that lack sex cells.
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[
Cell,
2013]
In this issue, Xiao et al. challenge the notion that cold temperatures promote longevity solely through thermodynamic effects. They show that low temperatures activate a cold-sensitive cation channel, TRPA-1, which triggers a complex signaling pathway in both neurons and nonneuronal cells to extend the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans.
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[
Dev Cell,
2015]
Eukaryotic chromosomes are organized into topological domains, but how these are established and maintained is poorly understood. Writing in Nature, Crane et al. (2015) show that a specialized condensin complex enforces the domain boundaries along the C. elegans X chromosome to equalize transcription from the X between males and hermaphrodites.