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Electrostatic interactions guide substrate recognition of the prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein ligase PafA
A recent "Nature Communications" paper by the Weber-Ban group (IMBB) investigated how the single ligase PafA of the pupylation pathway interacts with its protein substrates, demonstrating how PafA can achieve recognition of a wide array of substrates while retaining selective protein turnover.
A cancer associated RNA binding protein autoregulates itself through alternative splicing
In a "Nature Communications" paper, the Allain (IBC), Campagne (University of Bordeaux, France) and Ruepp (King’s College London, UK) groups report that the RBM39 protein autoregulates itself through regulation of a poison exon. Altering this exon’s splicing could be a novel approach for cancer treatment.
Unveiling the love-hate relationship between Salmonella and the gut microbiota
Salmonella causes diarrhea to get rid of the gut microbiota and thrive in the gut. Recent work in PloS Biology by the Hardt group with the Vorholt & Sunagawa groups reveals that this strategy relies on a balance between disease severity caused by Salmonella and the diversity of the gut microbiota.
FoxM1 coordinates cell division, protein synthesis, and mitochondrial activity in β-cells
Pancreatic β-cells are essential secreting insulin to regulate glucose homeostasis. During metabolic stress they respond by increasing insulin production and secretion and proliferation to meet the increased metabolic demand. A detailed understanding of this process is important to understand the processes leading to β-cell decompensation and demise in obesity and type 2 diabetes.