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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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[
Curr Biol,
2011]
In the nematode C.elegans, immobility induced by the anesthetic halothane is coupled to its ability to modulate neuronal resting membrane potential, perhaps through effects on leak channels; a similar anesthetic, isoflurane, appears to work a different way.
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[
Genes Dev,
2003]
Obesity and the occurrence of diabetes are on the rise. Much of this is attributable to a more sedentary lifestyle and high caloric intake in industrialized countries and is a major cause of a variety of health problems. Obesity and diabetes are intimately linked to insulin, which increases glucose uptake in cells and serves as a primary regulator of blood glucose levels. Insulin has been an important target of investigation for decades, as indicated by its sequence determination by Sanger and colleagues in 1955, and is now the subject of renewed interest.
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[
Cell,
2015]
Throughout development, proliferative progenitors lose their mitotic potential, exit the cell cycle, and differentiate. In this issue, Ruijtenberg and van den Heuvel identify an important lineage-specific role for a SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex that collaborates with core cell-cycle regulators to promote cell-cycle exit and terminal muscle cell differentiation.
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[
Dev Cell,
2002]
Presenilins mediate they-secretase cleavage of Notch transmembrane receptors as well as the transmembrane P-amyloid precursor protein (PAPP), but they are not thought to accomplish this alone. Recent genetic screens in C. elegans, presented in this issue of Developmental Cell, identify two genes that are essential to gamma-secretase activity and may interact with presenilins.
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[
Curr Biol,
2012]
The genetics and predictable cell death lineages in Caenorhabditis elegans have been critical for identifying a conserved apoptosis pathway. Yet, cells still die in mutants that disrupt this pathway. A recent study shows that this death occurs by cell shedding.
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[
Nature,
2000]
A tiny RNA molecule ensures that the larvae of a roundworm develop into adults. The discovery of this RNA in many other animal groups implies that this way of keeping developmental time may be universal.