HIV-1 multiplication requires the presence of cholesterol-enriched microdomains, in the plasma membrane of host cells.

Axons and their synapses distal to the site of an injury undergo rapid degeneration, but axons in the mutant C57BL/WldS mouse are protected by a mechanism that remains unclear. In December Nature Neuroscience Till Mack and colleagues from University of Cologne, Germany, identified the Wld gene and the mutant protein involved in protecting the nerve fibers of these mice from degeneration.Mack et al. found that the protection in C57BL/WldS mice is due to a Ube4b/Nmnat chimeric gene that encodes an

Conjugation has classically been considered a bacterium-to-bacterium DNA transfer driven by the donor cell and is typically plasmid-encoded. Theoretically it is possible that any type of cell can serve as the recipient. In December Nature Genetics, Virginia Waters from the University of California, San Diego shows the first evidence for bacterial conjugation to mammalian cells.Waters used the RK2 'shuttle vector' plasmid system to determine if Escherichia coli can transfer a fluorescent DNA sign

The intracellular Golgi apparatus was believed to be a fixed structure that processed proteins for secretion in an assembly-line fashion. But two papers in November 12 Journal of Cell Biology, show that the entire Golgi apparatus is a dynamic structure and suggest that most, if not all, Golgi protein elements cycle through endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in interphase cells.Suzanne Miles and colleagues at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, US, compared the effect of protein inhibition and ER exit blocking on

Mus81, a fission yeast protein related to a repair endonuclease, enables chromosomes to cross over during meiosis.

Iris tissue in the adult rat eye can generate photoreceptor specific cells, which may be used for retinal transplants.

Idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition in which the involvement of genes and the environment is still controversial. Two papers in November 14 JAMA from Duke University Medical Center, Durham, US suggest that the parkin gene is important in early-onset PD and that multiple genetic factors are important in the development of late-onset PD. Scott et al. performed a complete genomic screening in 174 families (870 individuals) with multiple individuals diagnosed as having

Oxygen levels used in standard cell culture apparatus could slow growth and trigger an alternate developmental pathway.

Cholesterol secreted by glial cells in complex with apolipoprotein E promotes neuronal synapse development.

Oleylethanolamide (OEA) is a natural analogue of the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide that is suspected to have a role in cellular signaling. But, in 8 November Nature, F. Rodriguez de Fonseca and colleagues from Complutense University, Madrid, Spain and University of California at Irvine, US show that the main role of OEA is as a significant lipid mediator in the peripheral regulation of feeding.Using rats Rodriguez de Fonseca et al. found that food deprivation markedly reduced OEA biosynthesi

A subset of NSAIDs have a direct action on the mechanism of amyloid plaque production in the brain independently of COX activity.

Discoidin domain tyrosine kinase receptor 2 is induced in stellate cells during liver injury and perpetuates hepatic damage.