Y. Zhou et al., "The mammalian Golgi regulates numb signaling in asymmetric cell division by releasing ACBD3 during mitosis," Cell, 129:163-78, Apr. 6, 2007.
This excellent paper reports a novel means of coupling cell-cycle progression with cell fate decisions. The authors show that the fragmentation of the Golgi complex, which precedes mitosis of neural progenitor cells, releases a Numb binding protein, thereby modulating cell fate decisions following asymmetric cell division.
-Mark Bothwell
University of Washington, USA
C.A. Miller et al., "Covalent modification of DNA regulates memory formation," Neuron, 53:857-69, Mar. 15, 2007.
During hippocampal memory formation, transient DNA methylation regulates the expression of two genes, the memory suppressor phosphatase 1 and the plasticity gene reelin. Prevention of this DNA methylation impairs memory formation.
-Karl-Peter Giese
King's College London, United Kingdom
N.B. Sutter, et al., "A single IGF1 allele is a major determinant of small size in dogs,"...