DNA damage caused by formaldehyde is repaired involving CSA and CSB genes. KJ Patel’s lab have shown how, when this pathway is mutated such as in people with Cockayne syndrome, the appetite suppression hormone GDF15 is released leading to severe weight loss.
Insight on Research
Early transcriptional patterning of a forming tissue is essential to morphogenesis of a tubular organ
Time-lapse quantitative study of developing salivary glands in Drosophila embryos, conducted by Katja Röper’s group, reveals the key control factors behind cells’ behavioural transitions that are essential for correct organ formation.
Atomic structure of chromosomal complex responsible for organising DNA determined
Cryo-EM analysis reveals structure of structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) complex, and shows for the first time how the protein machinery entraps two DNA helices simultaneously in order to individualise chromosomes.
Scaling-up grid manufacture to solve bottleneck in cryo-EM
Electron cryo-microscopy continues to be a pivotal method for structural biology. Chris Russo’s group, in the LMB’s Structural Studies Division, share an optimisation process to meet increasing demand for cryo-EM grids.
Regulating the disassembly of the eukaryotic DNA replication machinery
Disassembly of the DNA replication machinery, known as the replisome, is the final step of eukaryotic chromosome replication. A collaboration between Joe Yeeles’ group at the LMB and the Deegan lab in Edinburgh shows how replisome disassembly is regulated through ubiquitin ligase activity and stearic hindrance from the DNA itself.
How cellular clocks within heart cells coordinate daily cardiac rhythms
Alessandra Stangherlin (O’Neill group) found a cellular mechanism that facilitates daily changes in heart rate. ~24h rhythms in Na/K/Cl levels osmotically compensate for daily changes in macromolecular crowding to modulate cardiac electrical activity, in vitro and in vivo.