Latest Articles Include:
- From the editors
- Nat Rev Genet 11(6):385 (2010)
This month we launch a series on modes of transcriptional regulation with a review on inducible gene regulation.Modes of transcriptional regulation: http://www.nature.com/nrg/series/transcriptionalregulation/index.html - Transcriptomics: Common disease pathogenesis pathways
- Nat Rev Genet 11(6):386 (2010)
Several observations indicate that various human diseases could be biologically connected. In particular, some data suggest that metabolic, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases increase the risk of developing cancer, so a new study has investigated whether there is overlap in the underlying biology of these diseases. - Human genomics: Filling gaps and finding variants
Muers M - Nat Rev Genet 11(6):387 (2010)
Invaluable though it is, the human genome reference assembly contains gaps. Researchers have now performed a detailed sequence and copy-number analysis of insertion sequences that are missing from the reference genome; this analysis provides a resource for the improvement of microarrays and has identified new loci that vary among populations. - Signalling: Making new connections
Wrighton KH - Nat Rev Genet 11(6):387 (2010)
In signalling networks, protein domains usually have a catalytic function or have a role in the regulation or localization of a protein, and it has been suggested that the reorganization of domains during evolution leads to new signalling activities. Peisajovich et al. present data in support of this theory by showing that recombining domains from proteins in the budding yeast mating pathway leads to diversity in pathway-response dynamics and changes in mating phenotype. - Genetics of gene expression: Mapping across tissues
- Nat Rev Genet 11(6):388 (2010)
Recent studies have provided important insights into the genetic control of gene expression but have mostly focused on expression in individual cell types or tissues. A recent paper demonstrates the power of using information from across tissues to reveal the true complexity of transcriptional regulation. - Gene expression: Directly linking transcription and translation
Swami M - Nat Rev Genet 11(6):388 (2010)
In bacteria, transcription and translation are coupled in time and space. Two studies now show that transcription and translation are physically linked, which may be important for regulating bacterial gene expression in response to different environmental conditions. - In brief: Genomics, Alternative splicing, Sex determination, Transcriptomics
- Nat Rev Genet 11(6):388 (2010)
Genomics The genome of the western clawed frog Xenopus tropicalis Hellsten, U. et al. Science 328, 633รข€"636 (2010) A draft assembly of the first genome sequence of an amphibian, Xenopus tropicalis, has been generated. X. tropicalis has over 20,000 genes, including orthologues of at least 1,700 human disease genes. - In brief: Genomics, Small RNAs, Disease genomics
- Nat Rev Genet 11(6):389 (2010)
Genomics The genome sequence of the spontaneously hypertensive rat: analysis and functional significance Atanur, S. S. et al. Genome Res. 29 Apr 2010 (doi:10. - An Interview With... Shinya Yamanaka
- Nat Rev Genet 11(6):390 (2010)
The 2010 March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology has been awarded to Shinya Yamanaka of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, Japan, and the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease in San Francisco, USA, for his work on reprogramming adult cells to form induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The prize recognizes researchers whose work has contributed to our understanding of the science that underlies birth defects. - Condensin and cohesin complexity: the expanding repertoire of functions
Wood AJ Severson AF Meyer BJ - Nat Rev Genet 11(6):391 (2010)
Condensin and cohesin complexes act in diverse nuclear processes in addition to their widely known roles in chromosome compaction and sister chromatid cohesion. Recent work has elucidated the contribution of condensin and cohesin to interphase genome organization, control of gene expression, metazoan development and meiosis. Despite these wide-ranging functions, several themes have come to light: both complexes establish higher-order chromosome structure by inhibiting or promoting interactions between distant genomic regions, both complexes influence the chromosomal association of other proteins, and both complexes achieve functional specialization by swapping homologous subunits. Emerging data are expanding the range of processes in which condensin and cohesin are known to participate and are enhancing our knowledge of how chromosome architecture is regulated to influence numerous cellular functions. - The population genetics of antibiotic resistance: integrating molecular mechanisms and treatment contexts
- Nat Rev Genet 11(6):405 (2010)
Despite efforts from a range of disciplines, our ability to predict and combat the evolution of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria is limited. This is because resistance evolution involves a complex interplay between the specific drug, bacterial genetics and both natural and treatment ecology. Incorporating details of the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance and ecology into evolutionary models has proved useful in predicting the dynamics of resistance evolution. However, putting these models to practical use will require extensive collaboration between mathematicians, molecular biologists, evolutionary ecologists and clinicians. - Uncovering the roles of rare variants in common disease through whole-genome sequencing
- Nat Rev Genet 11(6):415 (2010)
Although genome-wide association (GWA) studies for common variants have thus far succeeded in explaining only a modest fraction of the genetic components of human common diseases, recent advances in next-generation sequencing technologies could rapidly facilitate substantial progress. This outcome is expected if much of the missing genetic control is due to gene variants that are too rare to be picked up by GWA studies and have relatively large effects on risk. Here, we evaluate the evidence for an important role of rare gene variants of major effect in common diseases and outline discovery strategies for their identification. - Inducible gene expression: diverse regulatory mechanisms
Weake VM Workman JL - Nat Rev Genet 11(6):426 (2010)
The rapid activation of gene expression in response to stimuli occurs largely through the regulation of RNA polymerase II-dependent transcription. In this Review, we discuss events that occur during the transcription cycle in eukaryotes that are important for the rapid and specific activation of gene expression in response to external stimuli. In addition to regulated recruitment of the transcription machinery to the promoter, it has now been shown that control steps can include chromatin remodelling and the release of paused polymerase. Recent work suggests that some components of signal transduction cascades also play an integral part in activating transcription at target genes. - Insulators and promoters: closer than we think
Raab JR Kamakaka RT - Nat Rev Genet 11(6):439 (2010)
Insulators prevent promiscuous gene regulation by restricting the action of enhancers and silencers. Recent studies have revealed a number of similarities between insulators and promoters, including binding of specific transcription factors, chromatin-modification signatures and localization to specific subnuclear positions. We propose that enhancer-blockers and silencing barrier-insulators might have evolved as specialized derivatives of promoters and that the two types of element use related mechanisms to mediate their distinct functions. These insights can help to reconcile different models of insulator action. - Missing heritability and strategies for finding the underlying causes of complex disease
- Nat Rev Genet 11(6):446 (2010)
Although recent genome-wide studies have provided valuable insights into the genetic basis of human disease, they have explained relatively little of the heritability of most complex traits, and the variants identified through these studies have small effect sizes. This has led to the important and hotly debated issue of where the 'missing heritability' of complex diseases might be found. Here, seven leading geneticists offer their opinion about where this heritability is likely to lie, what this could tell us about the underlying genetic architecture of common diseases and how this could inform research strategies for uncovering genetic risk factors.
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