A new study in mice reveals how a protein called Brd4 boosts the inflammatory response – for better and for worse, depending on the ailment. The study is the first to show that this protein, while problematic in some circumstances, also can protect the body from infection. The findings are reported...

Here, the authors present compelling evidence for the critical involvement of ionized side chains—whether pore-facing or buried—rather than backbone atoms and propose a mechanism whereby not only their charge sign, but also, their conformation determines charge selectivity.

Prasanth and colleagues show that BEND3 directly binds to rDNA promoter in a sequence specific manner and induces chromatin modifications leading to a transcriptionally repressive chromatin environment.

Sodium ions (Na+) play diverse and important roles in biological processes, and yet few sensors with high sensitivity and selectivity for Na+ over other competing metal ions have been reported. In this study, the authors reported the first highly selective, sensitive, and efficient Na+-specific...

A new study led by Professor of Microbiology Stephen Blanke, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to show how a bacterial toxin can disrupt a cell's mitochondria – its energy-generation and distribution system – to disable the cell and spur apoptosis (programmed cell...

Associate Professor of Biochemistry Satish Nair and Biochemistry Affiliate Wilfred van der Donk are corresponding authors on "Characterization and structure of DhpI, a phosphonate O-methyltransferase involved in dehydrophos biosynthesis," appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of...

Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Supriya Prasanth is lead and co-corresponding author of a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, "Human origin recognition complex is essential for HP1 binding to chromatin and heterochromatin organization." The...