subunit and may act as a receptor-independent G protein activator.

cells to grow larger and produce more insulin.

Gamma-delta T cells in the skin use evolutionarily conserved proteins to negatively regulate malignancy.

A pregnancy early in reproductive life is protective against breast cancer, but the molecular mechanisms that form the basis for this protective effect have not been elucidated. In the October 16 early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Lakshmi Sivaraman and colleagues from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, showed that the tumor suppressor protein p53 is increased in early pregnancy in rats and mice, possibly explaining why early pregnancy is associated

ribosomal protein fragment may contribute to lymphocyte dysfunction in gastric adenocarcinoma.

The main virulence factor of Bacillus anthracis is a toxin that consists of three separate gene products; protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF). In July Infection and Immunity, Brian Price and colleagues from Ohio State University showed that DNA-based immunization with a plasmid encoding the LF or PA protein provides complete protection against anthrax lethal toxin.Price et al. used a gene gun to inoculate mice with either a vector plasmid encoding a fragment of PA o

T cell interface.

Loss of telomere function can induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis but the processes that trigger cellular responses to telomere dysfunction remain largely unknown. In October Cell, Michael Hemann and colleagues from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine show that the shortest telomere, not average telomere length, is critical for cell viability and chromosome stability (Cell 2001, 107:67-77).Hemann et al. crossbred telomerase-deficient mice having short telomeres with mice heterozygous

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is an early signal of the stress response and is also an important neuromodulator of memory consolidation, anxiety, locomotor activity and food intake. In September 25 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Klaus Eckart and colleagues from the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Goettingen, show that it is possible to selectively change the binding properties of the CRF hormone by replacing a single amino acid in the CRF structure (Proc N

Calcium has long been known to be important in sperm function, but a full understanding of the molecular mechanisms of its action has remained elusive. In October 11 Nature, Dejian Ren and colleagues from Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Harvard Medical School describe a new cation channel, CatSper, which is vital to cAMP-mediated Ca2+ influx in sperm, sperm motility and fertilization.Ren et al. analyzed DNA for sequences that might code for known voltage-gated calcium channels and found a ge

Corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) participates in the implantation of embryos and early pregnancy tolerance via pathways that remain poorly understood. In October Nature Immunology, Makrigiannakis and colleagues from University of Crete School of Medicine, Greece, show that locally produced embryonic and endometrial CRH promotes implantation and maintenance of early pregnancy primarily by killing activated T cells.Makrigiannakis et al. studied isolated primary human extravillous trophoblast

High-resolution structures of the N- and C-terminal regions of BRCA1 show cancer-predisposing mutations may affect the domain.