Ben Short

Want to promote tissue growth? There's an App for that!

Study describes how a palmitoyltransferase regulates the Hippo pathway in flies.

Cell biologists expand their networks

High-throughput omics technologies generate huge datasets on the protein, transcript, lipid, and metabolite content of cells. By integrating and analyzing these data, systems biologists study complex networks of physical and functional interactions that go beyond the traditional focus on individual proteins or linear pathways. Many cell biologists have greeted these developments with healthy skepticism, complaining that long lists of genes or “hairballs” of interactions provide little insight into biological questions of genuine meaning. As omics techniques move beyond acquisition into hypothesis-driven applications, the chasm between systems biologists and cell biologists is narrowing and the benefits of working together are increasingly clear. While cell biologists need omics and computer analyses to extend their understanding of biological processes, omics scientists need cell biologists to help them interpret and use their vast amounts of data.

Mina Bissell: Context is everything

Bissell remains as passionate about science as ever.

Meet the neighbors

![Figure][1] A BirA–lamin-A fusion protein (red) attaches biotin (green) to nearby components of the nuclear envelope. Roux et al. report a new way to screen for protein–protein interactions in mammalian cells. Existing methods for probing protein interactions have their limitations.

Setting a new standard for kinetochores

Two studies reassess the number of proteins at yeast kinetochores and centromeres.

The wrong suspect

Parkinsons disease may be caused by microtubule, rather than mitochondrial complex I, dysfunction.

FLIPping the kill switch

The amounts of different cFLIP isoforms help cells choose between life and death.

Time (and PPARβ/δ) heals all wounds

Organotypic cultures help to unravel how a transcription factor modulates crosstalk between different layers of the skin.

Tubby proteins prove their adaptability

Study reveals that Tubby family proteins help deliver GPCRs and other integral membrane proteins into cilia.

Sorting out endosome form and function

In the early 2000s, researchers redefined the organization and function of the endosomal system.