Showing papers in "Current Opinion in Genetics & Development in 2004"

TL;DR: In addition to being involved in Hox gene silencing, the ESC-E(Z) complex and its associated histone methyltransferase activity are important in other biological processes including X-inactivation, germline development, stem cell pluripotency and cancer metastasis.

TL;DR: This new model for cancer will have significant ramifications for the way the authors study and treat cancer and through targeting the cancer stem cell and its dysregulated self-renewal, the therapies for treating cancer are likely to improve.

TL;DR: Recent findings that place focal adhesion kinase (FAK) in an important receptor-proximal position in the regulation of growth factor and integrin-stimulated cell motility are highlighted.

TL;DR: This work has shown that DNA methylation, histone modifications, and also polycomb group proteins are important for the somatic maintenance of imprinting and the silencing mechanism has similarities with X-chromosome inactivation.

TL;DR: The NuA4 complex, first characterized in yeast, stands out as it controls multiple key nuclear functions in eukaryotic cells and contributes to the understanding of its diverse functions.

TL;DR: The identification of Aurora A as a cancer-susceptibility gene provides a strong link between mitotic errors and carcinogenesis and several Aurora substrates have been identified and their roles are being elucidated.

TL;DR: Comparisons of genomic features with those of closely related bacteria retaining free-living stages indicate that rapid evolutionary change often occurs immediately after host restriction, which represents a general syndrome of genome evolution.

TL;DR: Advances in these areas include new genes and experimental models for studying liver development, the role of HNF6 and HNF1beta transcription factors and notch signaling in the hepatocyte-biliary cell lineage decision, the identification of genomic targets for HNF4, and H NF4's role in controlling hepatic epithelial structure and the sinusoidal organization of the liver.

TL;DR: The increased chromosomal instability and tumor susceptibility apparent in mutant mice deficient in both p53 and either histone H2AX or proteins that contribute to the nonhomologous end-joining mechanism of DNA repair indicate that DNA damage checkpoints play a pivotal role in tumor suppression.

TL;DR: Notch receptor signaling contributes to pre-malignant metaplastic changes that precede pancreatic carcinoma, and it is also likely to be involved in other forms of metaplasia.

TL;DR: This work has shown that epigenetic gene regulation plays an important role in the control of cell growth and differentiation, and the interaction of chromatin remodeling enzymes with neurogenic transcription factors and the involvement of noncoding RNAs in neural fate specification is important.

TL;DR: The association of SRF with myocardin and MRTFs provides a molecular basis for the activation of SMC genes by SRF and the responsiveness of the smooth muscle differentiation program to growth factor signaling.

TL;DR: Increased knowledge of epigenetic reprogramming supports the idea that epigenetic marks are not always completely cleared between generations, and it is also becoming clear that the establishment of epigenetics marks during development can be influenced by environmental factors.

TL;DR: The properties of these small RNAs can explain how the primary sequence of the parental macronucleus epigenetically controls genome rearrangement in the new macronsus and provide the first demonstration of an RNAi-mediated process that directly alters DNA sequence organization.

TL;DR: The identification of Ski and SnoN as important negative regulators of signal transduction by the transforming growth factor-β superfamily of cytokines provides a valuable molecular basis for the complex functions of Skiand SnoN.

TL;DR: Studies in Drosophila have revealed large numbers of pleiotropic genes that interact epistatically to regulate quantitative traits, and large number of QTLs with sex-, environment- and genotype-specific effects, which offer valuable lessons for understanding the genetic basis of variation for complex traits in other organisms, including humans.

TL;DR: Birds, reptiles, amphibia and fish have an enormous variety of chromosomal sex determination mechanisms that apparently do not follow any phylogenetic or taxonomic scheme, a similar picture is now emerging at the molecular level.

TL;DR: A complete understanding of Notch signaling requires us to look well beyond the core pathway, which is subject to a wide array of regulatory influences, from those that affect ligand-receptor interactions to those that govern the choice of NotCh target genes.

TL;DR: The ubiquity of aneuploidy in human cancers, particularly solid tumors, suggests a fundamental link between errors in chromosome segregation and tumorigenesis.

TL;DR: Homing endonuclease genes will be selected to reduce the harm done to the host organism, and this is expected to influence the evolution of their sequence specificity and maturase functions.

TL;DR: This work has shown that ribosome biogenesis, and in particular the synthesis of the rRNAs, plays a central role not only in permitting growth, but also in regulating it.

TL;DR: Roles for ATP-dependent remodelling enzymes throughout the transcription cycle are supported and a new means by which the incorporation of histone variants can be directed is provided.

TL;DR: 3D cell culture models are slowly revealing how tissue architecture can dramatically influence how a cell responds to exogenous stimuli to modify its apoptotic behavior and hence should prove instrumental for identifying novel cell death pathways.

TL;DR: Highlights in DNA repair, the tolerance of DNA damage and its contribution to mutagenesis, and DNA damage checkpoint regulation are presented.

TL;DR: The gene regulatory network was experimentally defined, and is presented as a predictive map of cis-regulatory inputs and functional regulatory gene interconnections that illuminates the 'whys' of many aspects of zygotic control in early sea urchin development.

TL;DR: Pseudogenes are considered as genomic fossils: disabled copies of functional genes that were once active in the ancient genome as discussed by the authors, and they can be used to improve the accuracy of gene annotation.

TL;DR: This work has illustrated the potential for manipulation of the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor HIF-1 pathway for therapeutic purposes and produced fundamental advances in understanding of both the regulation and function of this response pathway in animals.

TL;DR: In vertebrate embryos, somite segmentation is controlled by a molecular clock, in the form of a transcriptional oscillator that operates in the presomitic mesoderm, which explains some surprising observations and suggests that the period of oscillation is chiefly determined by the transcriptional and translational delays.

TL;DR: New approaches that harness the power of ChIP and combine this technique with DNA microarrays and bioinformatics have identified direct, physiological targets and significantly altered the view of the E2F transcription factor that is known to play a role in regulation of cell-cycle progression.

TL;DR: The elucidation of the roles of FACT and Spt6 in transcription elongation facilitate PolII passage through chromatin by destabilizing the nucleosome structure as well as reassemble nucleosomes traversed by PolII.