Showing papers in "Current Opinion in Genetics & Development in 1997"

TL;DR: The dynamic and diverse patterns of expression of SOX genes and analysis of mutations suggest that SOX factors play key roles in decisions of cell fate during diverse developmental processes.

TL;DR: The transition from the initial growth phase of dividing precursor cells and the subsequent differentiation phase of postmitotic cells is controlled antagonistically by multiple helix-loop-helix (HLH) genes.

TL;DR: Regulation of the JNK pathway provides an interesting example of how many different stimuli can converge into regulating pathways critical for the determination of cell fate.

TL;DR: Regulatory elements in the region between the termination codon and poly(A) tail - the 3' untranslated region - have been identified in a wide variety of systems, as have been some of the key players with which these elements interact.

TL;DR: The upregulation of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 and the dephosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (pRb) appear to be critical regulatory events for the establishment of both the postmitotic and apoptosis-resistant states.

TL;DR: Ras proteins activate a signaling cascade through direct binding of the serine/threonine kinase Raf and activate additional signaling pathways that are essential for full biological activity as mentioned in this paper.

TL;DR: A plethora of post-transcriptional mechanisms are involved in essential steps in the pathway of genetic information expression in eukaryotes, including RNA-binding proteins and small complementary RNAs.

TL;DR: Deletion of individual DNA repair proteins in knockout mice provides information on the roles of such factors in vivo and recent three-dimensional structures of several repair enzymes explain their detailed modes of action.

TL;DR: Identification of the catalytic subunits of these opposing histone-modifying activities reveal conserved proteins defined genetically as transcriptional regulators.

TL;DR: Experiments suggest that binding of the Rho-like GTPase Cdc42p to Ste20p is not required for the mating response, yet is needed for the pseudohyphal growth response which involves many of the same kinases.

TL;DR: This work has shown that assembly of the silenced complex is antagonized by transcriptional activity in the region but is favored by interactions with other complexes nearby or in other regions that associate in the same nuclear environment.

TL;DR: These experiments demonstrate that insulators contain multiple components that cooperate to confer their unique properties and suggest that the mechanism of insulation is related to that of enhancer function.

TL;DR: During the past year, further insight has been provided into the activation of latent p53, the biochemical mechanisms involved in growth arrest and apoptosis, and the influence of various signals on these cellular effects.

TL;DR: Four sequence-related proteins--recently named the plakin family--that localize to intermediate filaments and filament attachment sites at the plasma membrane are studied.

TL;DR: Initial indications suggest the existence of a large mammalian PcG and trxG family, with a potential to encode multiple specialised functions in cell fate and cell-cycle control.

TL;DR: New members of the sulfatase gene family have been identified in man and other species using a genomic approach and the resolution of the crystallographic structure of sulfatases have improved understanding of the function and evolution of this fascinating family of enzymes.

TL;DR: The mosaic of repeats and proteins associated with telomeres has an architectural role which divides the genome into two domains, allowing for the adaptive use of the region as well as the evolution of non-telomerase-mediated telomere maintenance.

TL;DR: The discovery of heterogeneous populations of retinal precursors with sequentially modified fates may help solve the conundrum of conserved histogenesis in the absence of determination either by birthdate or lineage.

TL;DR: Recent studies in this protein kinase family indicate an important role for ATM and ATR in a meiotic surveillance mechanism that may regulate proper chromosome transmission.

TL;DR: Alterations of the human mismatch repair genes have been linked to hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC) as well as to sporadic cancers that exhibit microsatellite instability.

TL;DR: It is found that the breakdown in LCR function accompanying the deletion of specific sequences results in a phenomenon known as position effect variegation, described in detail in yeast and Drosophila, which implies that all subregions within an LCR are necessary to ensure the establishment of an open chromatin configuration of a gene even when the latter is located in a highly heterochromatic region.

TL;DR: The stationary-phase adaptation of E. coli has only recently begun to be investigated at the molecular level and a state of increased resistance against various stresses is established.

TL;DR: Multipotent haemopoietic progenitor cells appear to be 'primed' for commitment by co-expression of a multiplicity of genes characteristic of different lineages.

TL;DR: The importance of this gene family is illustrated by the discovery that mutations in human TBX5 are responsible for Holt-Oram syndrome, which is characterised by abnormalities in heart and forelimb development.

TL;DR: Notch-mediated lateral signalling takes place between equivalent cells that then adopt alternative fates, sometimes random and sometimes biased to a preferred cell by an extrinsic signal.

TL;DR: Identification of some of the protein participants - Ku, DNA-PK, XRCC4 - and the reaction intermediates in DNA end joining suggest how broken chromosomal ends may be recognized and repaired in eukaryotic cells.

TL;DR: Comparative analysis of the complete sequences of seven bacterial and three archaeal genomes leads to the first generalizations of emerging genome-based microbiology, suggesting that the number of universally conserved gene families is very small and that multiple events of horizontal gene transfer and genome fusion are major forces in evolution.

TL;DR: In reviewing the recent advances pertaining to the Bcl-2 and ICE-related protein families, one can address the question of a functional relationship between the two classes of proteins.

TL;DR: On the basis of existing evidence for such crossactivation pathways, RTKs must be considered as representing critical foci and switch points for multiple environmental and internal stimuli.

TL;DR: Six known or predicted helicases that are mutated in human Syndromes are now recognized, pointing to different cellular processes of DNA manipulation that are defective in these syndromes.