50 years of The FEBS Journal: looking back as well as ahead.

In this last issue of 2017, we're celebrating the 50th anniversary of The FEBS Journal. This Editorial considers how the journal has grown and changed from volume 1, issue 1 and outlines our exciting plans for the future.

Announcing the winners of our 50th Anniversary Science Communication Competition.

The FEBS Journal is pleased to announce the three winners of its 50th Anniversary Science Communication Competition. Read on to see their prize-winning entries!

Recent buzz in malaria research.

In this Commentary, we highlight the latest findings in three active areas of malaria research: Plasmodium biology; host response; and malaria control, prevention and treatment.

Avoiding common pitfalls of manuscript and figure preparation.

Accurate and clear representation of scientific data is essential for the advancement of science. In this instalment of the Words of Advice series, we feature guidelines and tips on best practices for writing manuscripts, designing experiments and preparing figures and images for publication.

Words of Advice: for what it's worth, our tuppenceworth.

This new series in The FEBS Journal aims to provide insight and advice to graduate students and postdocs on topics relevant to their research and careers.

β-catenin signalling in dermal papilla cells leads to a hairy situation.

Dermal papilla (DP) are specialised mesenchymal cells that activate the formation of new hair follicles. In this issue of The FEBS Journal, Zhang and colleagues show that enhancing the β-catenin signalling pathway in DP cells allows faster and denser hair growth, providing a potential target for hair loss treatments and for improving hair regeneration techniques.

Posttranslational lipid modification of Rho family small GTPases.

The Rho family comprises a major branch of the Ras superfamily of small GTPases. A majority of Rho GTPases are synthesized as inactive, cytosolic proteins. They then undergo posttranslational modification by isoprenoid or fatty acid lipids, and together with additional carboxyl-terminal sequences target Rho GTPases to specific membrane and subcellular compartments essential for function.

A genomic approach to identify molecular pathways associated with chemotherapy resistance.

Resistance to chemotherapy in cancer is common. As gene expression profiling has been shown to anticipate chemotherapeutic resistance, we sought to identify cellular pathways associated with resistance to facilitate effective combination therapy. Gene set enrichment analysis was used to associate pathways with resistance in two data sets: the NCI-60 cancer cell lines deemed sensitive and resistant to specific chemotherapeutic agents (Adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, docetaxel, etoposide, 5-fluorouracil, paclitaxel, and topotecan) and a series of 40 lung cancer cell lines for which sensitivity to cisplatin and docetaxel was determined.

Multiple sequence elements facilitate Chp Rho GTPase subcellular location, membrane association, and transforming activity.

Cdc42 homologous protein (Chp) is a member of the Rho family of small GTPases and shares significant sequence and functional similarity with Cdc42. However, unlike classical Rho GTPases, we recently found that Chp depends on palmitoylation, rather than prenylation, for association with cellular membranes. Because palmitoylation alone is typically not sufficient to promote membrane association, we evaluated the possibility that other carboxy-terminal residues facilitate Chp subcellular association with membranes.

Biochemical analyses of the Wrch atypical Rho family GTPases.

The Rho family of GTPases comprises a major branch of the Ras superfamily of small GTPases. To date, at least 22 human members have been identified. However, most of our knowledge of Rho GTPase function comes from the study of the three classical Rho GTPases, RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc42.

Transforming activity of the Rho family GTPase, Wrch-1, a Wnt-regulated Cdc42 homolog, is dependent on a novel carboxyl-terminal palmitoylation motif.

Wrch-1 is a Rho family GTPase that shares strong sequence and functional similarity with Cdc42. Like Cdc42, Wrch-1 can promote anchorage-independent growth transformation. We determined that activated Wrch-1 also promoted anchorage-dependent growth transformation of NIH 3T3 fibroblasts.

Critical and distinct roles of amino- and carboxyl-terminal sequences in regulation of the biological activity of the Chp atypical Rho GTPase.

Chp (Cdc42 homologous protein) shares significant sequence and functional identity with the human Cdc42 small GTPase, and like Cdc42, promotes formation of filopodia and activates the p21-activated kinase serine/threonine kinase. However, unlike Cdc42, Chp contains unique amino- and carboxyl-terminal extensions. Here we determined whether Chp, like Cdc42, can promote growth transformation and evaluated the role of the amino- and carboxyl-terminal sequences in Chp function.

Renewing the conspiracy theory debate: does Raf function alone to mediate Ras oncogenesis?

Ras proteins function as signal transducers and are mutationally activated in many human cancers. In 1993, Raf was identified as a key downstream effector of Ras signaling, and it was believed then that the primary function of Ras was simply to facilitate Raf activation. However, the subsequent discovery of other proteins that are effectors of Ras function suggested that oncogenic activities of Ras are mediated by both Raf-dependent and Raf-independent signaling.