Microreviews, Review

Mitochondrial protein import under kinase surveillance

Magdalena Opalińska1 and Chris Meisinger1,2

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

Lewis D. B. Evans, Colin Hughes and Gillian M. Fraser

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

Jelena Ostojić1, Jean-Paul di Rago2,3, Geneviève Dujardin1,*

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.

Stalling autophagy: a new function for Listeria phospholipases

Ivan Tattoli1,2, Matthew T. Sorbara2, Dana J. Philpott2 and Stephen E. Girardin1,*

This article comments on a study biy Tattoli et al. (EMBO J, 2013), which demonstrated that Listeria PI-PLC and PC-PLC contribute to the bacterial escape from autophagy through a mechanism that involves direct inhibition of the autophagic flux in the infected cells

Identifying the assembly pathway of cyanophage inside the marine bacterium using electron cryo-tomography

Wei Dai1, Michael F. Schmid1, Jonathan A. King2, Wah Chiu1,*

Thiswork comments on a study by Dai et al. (Nature 2013) that illustrates that electron cryo-tomography is an approach whereby one can capture directly structural snapshots of transient phage assembly intermediates during maturation process. Such analysis can be generalizable not only to human viruses in human cells but also various molecular machines undergoing biological processes.

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Fatal attraction in glycolysis: how Saccharomyces cerevisiae manages sudden transitions to high glucose

February 20, 2014

This article comments on work published by van Heerden et al. (Science, 2014), which demonstrates that the startup of glycolysis exhibits two dynamic fates: a proper, functional, steady state or the imbalanced state described above. Both states are stable, attracting states, and the probability distribution of initial states determines the fate of a yeast cell exposed to glucose.

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.

Stalling autophagy: a new function for Listeria phospholipases

January 4, 2014

This article comments on a study biy Tattoli et al. (EMBO J, 2013), which demonstrated that Listeria PI-PLC and PC-PLC contribute to the bacterial escape from autophagy through a mechanism that involves direct inhibition of the autophagic flux in the infected cells

Identifying the assembly pathway of cyanophage inside the marine bacterium using electron cryo-tomography

January 4, 2014

Thiswork comments on a study by Dai et al. (Nature 2013) that illustrates that electron cryo-tomography is an approach whereby one can capture directly structural snapshots of transient phage assembly intermediates during maturation process. Such analysis can be generalizable not only to human viruses in human cells but also various molecular machines undergoing biological processes.

Previous