28, 6 (2009). doi:10.1038/emboj.2008.251

Author: Tobias von der Haar

Modulation of the host cell's translational machinery is a crucial part of viral infection strategies. Well-characterised mechanisms that aid viruses in manipulating translational activity include, for example, internal ribosomal entry sites, which allow viral RNA translation in the absence of some or many of the

28, 8 (2009). doi:10.1038/emboj.2008.253

Authors: María Pérez-Caro, César Cobaleda, Inés González-Herrero, Carolina Vicente-Dueñas, Camino Bermejo-Rodríguez, Margarita Sánchez-Beato, Alberto Orfao, Belén Pintado, Teresa Flores, Manuel Sánchez-Martín, Rafael Jiménez, Miguel A Piris & Isidro Sánchez-García

In human cancers, all cancerous cells carry the oncogenic genetic lesions. However, to elucidate whether cancer is a stem cell-driven tissue, we have developed a strategy to limit oncogene expression to the stem cell compartment in a transgenic mouse setting. Here, we focus on the

28, 21 (2009). doi:10.1038/emboj.2008.238

Authors: Jianxiu Yu, Sharon S Zhang, Kan Saito, Scott Williams, Yutaka Arimura, Yuliang Ma, Yuehai Ke, Veronique Baron, Dan Mercola, Gen-Sheng Feng, Eileen Adamson & Tomas Mustelin

The PTEN tumour suppressor gene is induced by the early growth response 1 (EGR1) transcription factor, which also transactivates p53, p73, and p300/CBP as well as other proapoptotic and anti-cancer genes. Here, we describe a novel Akt–EGR1–alternate reading frame (ARF)–PTEN axis, in which PTEN activation

28, 34 (2009). doi:10.1038/emboj.2008.256

Authors: Nathalie Bruck, Dominique Vitoux, Christine Ferry, Vanessa Duong, Annie Bauer, Hughes de Thé & Cécile Rochette-Egly

The nuclear retinoic acid (RA) receptor alpha (RARα) is a transcriptional transregulator that controls the expression of specific gene subsets through binding at response elements and dynamic interactions with coregulators, which are coordinated by the ligand. Here, we highlighted a novel paradigm in which the

28, 48 (2009). doi:10.1038/emboj.2008.260

Authors: Lucia Daxinger, Tatsuo Kanno, Etienne Bucher, Johannes van der Winden, Ulf Naumann, Antonius J M Matzke & Marjori Matzke

We used a transgene system to study spreading of RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) during transcriptional gene silencing in Arabidopsis thaliana. Forward and reverse genetics approaches using this system delineated a stepwise pathway for the biogenesis of secondary siRNAs and unidirectional spreading of methylation from

28, 58 (2009). doi:10.1038/emboj.2008.259

Authors: Yuri V Svitkin, Valentina M Evdokimova, Ann Brasey, Tatyana V Pestova, Daniel Fantus, Akiko Yanagiya, Hiroaki Imataka, Maxim A Skabkin, Lev P Ovchinnikov, William C Merrick & Nahum Sonenberg

The interaction between the poly(A)-binding protein (PABP) and eukaryotic translational initiation factor 4G (eIF4G), which brings about circularization of the mRNA, stimulates translation. General RNA-binding proteins affect translation, but their role in mRNA circularization has not been studied before. Here, we demonstrate that the major

28, 69 (2009). doi:10.1038/emboj.2008.254

Authors: Tobias Koschubs, Martin Seizl, Laurent Larivière, Fabian Kurth, Sonja Baumli, Dietmar E Martin & Patrick Cramer

Mediator is a modular multiprotein complex required for regulated transcription by RNA polymerase (Pol) II. Here, we show that the middle module of the Mediator core contains a submodule of unique structure and function that comprises the N-terminal part of subunit Med7 (Med7N) and the