Microreviews, Review
Characterization of the Maf family of polymorphic toxins in pathogenic Neisseria species
Anne Jamet1,2,3,4,5, Xavier Nassif2,3,4,5
In addition to harmless commensal species, Neisseria genus encompasses two pathogenic species, N. meningitidis (the meningococcus) and N. gonorrhoeae (the gonococcus), which are responsible for meningitis and genital tract infections, respectively. This microreview comments on the article "A new family of secreted toxins in pathogenic Neisseria species" by Jamet et al. (2015), PLoS Pathog.
Live fast, die soon: cell cycle progression and lifespan in yeast cells
Javier Jiménez, Samuel Bru, Mariana PC Ribeiro and Josep Clotet
Our understanding of lifespan has benefited enormously from the study of a simple model, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although a unicellular organism, yeasts undergo many of the processes directly related with aging that to some extent are conserved in mammalian cells. Nutrient-limiting conditions have been involved in lifespan extension, especially in the case of caloric restriction, which also has a direct impact on cell cycle progression. In fact, other environmental stresses (osmotic, oxidative) that interfere with normal cell cycle progression also influence the lifespan of cells, indicating a relationship between lifespan and cell cycle control. In the present review we compile and discuss new findings related to how cell cycle progression is regulated by other nutrients. We centred this review on the analysis of phosphate, also give some attention to nitrogen, and the impact of these nutrients on lifespan...
Yeast as a tool for studying proteins of the Bcl-2 family
Peter Polčic, Petra Jaká and Marek Mentel
This review focuses on using yeast expressing mammalian proteins of the Bcl-2 family as a tool to investigate mechanisms, by which these proteins permeabilize mitochondrial membranes, mechanisms, by which pro- and antiapoptotic members of this family interact, and involvement of other cellular components in the regulation of programmed cell death by Bcl-2 family proteins.
Mitochondrial type II NAD(P)H dehydrogenases in fungal cell death
Pedro Gonçalves1,2,4, Arnaldo Videira1,2,3
During aerobic respiration, cells produce energy through oxidative phosphorylation, which includes a specialized group of multi-subunit complexes in the inner mitochondrial membrane known as the electron transport chain. However, this canonical pathway is branched into single polypeptide alternative routes in some fungi, plants, protists and bacteria. They confer metabolic plasticity, allowing cells to adapt to different environmental conditions and stresses...
EzrA: a spectrin-like scaffold in the bacterial cell division machinery
Robert M Cleverley, Richard J Lewis
Much progress has been made in identifying the components of the divisome, the assembly of proteins that undertakes the vital process of cell division in bacteria. However, how the highly interdependent processes on either side of the membrane are coordinated during division is a major unresolved question. This comment discusses the article "Structure and function of a spectrin-like regulator of bacterial cytokinesis" by Cleverley et al. (2014), Nat Commun.
Microbial hara-kiri: Exploiting lysosomal cell death in malaria parasites
Jun-Hong Ch’ng1,2, Johan Ursing2 and Kevin Shyong-Wei Tan1
The antimalarial drug chloroquine (CQ) has been sidelined in the fight against falciparum malaria due to wide-spread CQ resistance. This comment discusses the article "Validation of a chloroquine-induced cell death mechanism for clinical use against malaria" by Ch'ng et al. (2014), Cell Death Dis.
A pseudokinase couples signaling pathways to enable asymmetric cell division in a bacterium
W. Seth Childers and Lucy Shapiro
In this article, the authors comment on the study "Cell fate regulation governed by a repurposed bacterial histidine kinase" by Childers et al., PLoS Biol. 2014 Oct 28;12(10):e1001979.
Targeting of chromatin readers: a novel strategy used by the Shigella flexneri virulence effector OspF to reprogram transcription
Habiba Harouz, Christophe Rachez, Benoit Meijer, Christian Muchardt, Laurence Arbibe.
In this microreview, the authors discuss the article "Shigella flexneri targets the HP1γ subcode through the phosphothreoninelyase OspF" by Harouz et al. (2014), EMBO J, 22 : 2606-2622.
Plasmodium spp. membrane glutathione S-transferases: detoxification units and drug targets
Andreas Martin Lisewski
This article comments on work published by Lisewski et al. (Cell, 2014), which reported the first examples of membrane-associated proteins in eicosanoid and glutathione metabolism members among Plasmodium spp.
The Parkinson’s disease-associated protein α-synuclein disrupts stress signaling – a possible implication for methamphetamine use?
March 31, 2014
This article comments on work published by Wang et al. (PNAS, 2012), which reported that human α-syn, at high expression levels, disrupts stress-activated signal transduction pathways in both yeast and human neuroblastoma cells. Disruption of these signaling pathways ultimately leads to vulnerability to stress and to cell death.
Massive gene swamping among cheese-making Penicillium fungi
March 3, 2014
This article comments on work published by Cheeseman et al. (Nat Comm, 2014), which indicates that horizontal gene transfer is a crucial mechanism of rapid adaptation, even among eukaryotes.
Genome-wide studies of telomere biology in budding yeast
March 1, 2014
In the last decade, technical advances have allowed carrying out systematic genome-wide screens for mutants affecting various aspects of telomere biology. In this review we summarize these efforts, and the insights that this Systems Biology approach has produced so far.
Mnemons: encoding memory by protein super-assembly
February 25, 2014
This article comments on work published by Caudron and Barral (Cell, 2013), which proposes that polyQ- and polyN-based elements, termed mnemons, act as cellular memory devices to encode previous environmental conditions.
Intersubunit communications within KaiC hexamers contribute the robust rhythmicity of the cyanobacterial circadian clock
January 29, 2014
This article comments on work published by Kitayama et al. (Nat Comm, 2013), which suggests that intersubunit communication precisely synchronizes KaiC subunits to avoid dephasing, and contributes to the robustness of circadian rhythms in cyanobacteria.
Mitochondrial protein import under kinase surveillance
January 29, 2014
This article summarizes recent discoveries in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae model system that point towards a vital role of reversible phosphorylation in regulation of mitochondrial protein import.
Building a flagellum in biological outer space
January 25, 2014
This article comments on work published by Evans et al. (Nature, 2013), which presents a simple and elegant transit mechanism in which growth is powered by the subunits themselves as they link head-to-tail in a chain that is pulled through the length of the growing structure to the tip. This new mechanism answers an old question and may have resonance in other assembly processes.
A novel mechanism involved in the coupling of mitochondrial biogenesis to oxidative phosphorylation
January 5, 2014
This article comments on a study by Ostojić et al. (Cell Metabolism, 2013), which has uncovered a regulatory loop by which the biogenesis of a major enzyme of the OXPHOS pathway, the respiratory complex III, is coupled to the energy producing activity of the mitochondria.