Journal Clubs

Christina Termini highlights the importance of the identification of haematopoietic stem cell markers.

The advent of laser-scanning confocal microscopy revolutionized cell biology, offering unprecedented resolution and depth and enabling scientists to visualize cellular structures in 3D.

A 2017 cryo-electron microscopy structure that resolved the orientation of the replicative helicase CMG at the DNA replication fork caused a major shift in our understanding of DNA replication.

Two 2010 papers showed that microRNA interactions with certain RNAs result not in target destruction but in the decay of the microRNA.

Break-induced replication (BIR), a DNA double-strand break repair mechanism, was first studied in the 1960s in bacteriophages, showing that DNA could recombine by a 'break–copy' mechanism.

A machine learning model was trained to quantify how closely neurons differentiated in a dish from stem cells resemble those found in the brain.

A 2012 study discovered that RNA–binding proteins are more numerous and diverse than previously thought, many having non-canonical RNA-binding domains.

Pia Cosma recounts the development of STORM, which was the first microscopy method to break the diffraction limit of light.

Evandro De-Souza discusses an article by Dillin and Taylor that revealed the importance of neurons in organism-wide stress responses and the role of such cell-nonautonomous stress responses in ageing.

A study that helped explain how lack of sequence conservation can go hand in hand with functional conservation.

Carrie Bernecky describes why the first solved structure of RNA polymerase II was important for transcription researchers, structural biologists, and beyond.

Intriguing findings in yeast suggested that centromeres ‘tag’ DNA as self and allow its condensation during mitosis; vice versa, if a certain DNA is condensed during mitosis, it harbours a centromere.

Marina Lusic recounts seminal papers that showed that nuclear pore complexes and association with the nuclear lamina can shape borders between genomic domains and gene regulation.

Valerie Tornini discusses two studies that identified functional roles for small proteins encoded by short open reading frames, and highlights the potential for this research field in fundamental and clinical research.

C. David Allis’s discovery of the first histone acetyltransferase from Tetrahymena exemplifies an approach that continues to evolve and now has a crucial role in drug development.

Senescent cells in the amputated head of the cnidarian Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus drive the reprogramming of somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells, which are required for full body regeneration.

Removal of different types of senescent cells can be either beneficial or detrimental to health, with potential consequences to senotherapies.

James Kirkland discusses how work by Norman Sharpless and colleagues, published in 2004, paved the way for the development of senolytics, which are now in early phase clinical trials for the treatment of multiple disorders.

Raffaella Di Micco discusses the importance of a 2020 study in which CAR-T cells were engineered to eliminate senescent cells.

Ana O’Loghlen highlights a recent study that indicates that inhibiting the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-11 has anti-ageing effects, and how such findings could have implications for the treatment of ageing-associated diseases.