Dysregulated RNA polyadenylation contributes to metabolic impairment in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Pre-mRNA processing is an essential mechanism for the generation of mature mRNA and the regulation of gene expression in eukaryotic cells. While defects in pre-mRNA processing have been implicated in a number of diseases their involvement in metabolic pathologies is still unclear. Here, we show that both alternative splicing and alternative polyadenylation, two major steps in pre-mRNA processing, are significantly altered in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Growing Up in a Changing World: Environmental Regulation of Development in Insects.

All organisms are exposed to changes in their environment throughout their life cycle. When confronted with these changes, they adjust their development and physiology to ensure that they can produce the functional structures necessary for survival and reproduction. While some traits are remarkably invariant, or robust, across environmental conditions, others show high degrees of variation, known as plasticity.

The mirtron miR-1010 functions in concert with its host gene SKIP to balance elevation of nAcRβ2.

Mirtrons are non-canonical miRNAs arising by splicing and debranching from short introns. A plethora of introns have been inferred by computational analyses as potential mirtrons. Yet, few have been experimentally validated and their functions, particularly in relation to their host genes, remain poorly understood.

Selective Filopodia Adhesion Ensures Robust Cell Matching in the Drosophila Heart.

The ability to form specific cell-cell connections within complex cellular environments is critical for multicellular organisms. However, the underlying mechanisms of cell matching that instruct these connections remain elusive. Here, we quantitatively explored the dynamics and regulation of cell matching processes utilizing Drosophila cardiogenesis.

Temporal development of embryos is highly robust across a wide temperature range.

Development is a process precisely coordinated in both space and time. Spatial precision has been quantified in a number of developmental systems, and such data have contributed significantly to our understanding of, for example, morphogen gradient interpretation. However, comparatively little quantitative analysis has been performed on timing and temporal coordination during development.

Author Correction: Basolateral protrusion and apical contraction cooperatively drive Drosophila germ-band extension.

In the version of this Article originally published, the authors cited the wrong articles for reference numbers 18, 30 and 31; the correct ones are listed below. Furthermore, four additional references have been inserted at numbers 37, 38, 39 and 40 as in the list below, and the original references 37-40 have been renumbered. These corrections have been made in the online versions of the Article.

Decoding temporal interpretation of the morphogen Bicoid in the early embryo.

Morphogen gradients provide essential spatial information during development. Not only the local concentration but also duration of morphogen exposure is critical for correct cell fate decisions. Yet, how and when cells temporally integrate signals from a morphogen remains unclear.

Basolateral protrusion and apical contraction cooperatively drive Drosophila germ-band extension.

Throughout development, tissues undergo complex morphological changes, resulting from cellular mechanics that evolve over time and in three-dimensional space. During Drosophila germ-band extension (GBE), cell intercalation is the key mechanism for tissue extension, and the associated apical junction remodelling is driven by polarized myosin-II-dependent contraction. However, the contribution of the basolateral cellular mechanics to GBE remains poorly understood.

Gene expression boundary scaling and organ size regulation in the Drosophila embryo.

How the shape and size of tissues and organs is regulated during development is a major question in developmental biology. Such regulation relies upon both intrinsic cues (such as signaling networks) and extrinsic inputs (such as from neighboring tissues). Here, we focus on pattern formation and organ development during Drosophila embryogenesis.

Modeling the early stage of DNA sequence recognition within RecA nucleoprotein filaments.

Homologous recombination is a fundamental process enabling the repair of double-strand breaks with a high degree of fidelity. In prokaryotes, it is carried out by RecA nucleofilaments formed on single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). These filaments incorporate genomic sequences that are homologous to the ssDNA and exchange the homologous strands.