Research Highlights

Short, accessible synopses of recent important articles concerning signalling pathways.

February 2010

• Cell signalling: It's good to talk

  

  How signals are processed by interacting cells is largely unknown. In a new study in Science, Pawson, Linding and colleagues have dissected cell-specific signalling networks during the interaction between cells expressing transmembrane Eph receptor Tyr kinases (EphRs) and cells expressing their membrane-bound ephrin ligands. They found that the receptor- and ligand-expressing cells use different Tyr kinases and phosphorylation targets to process signals induced by cell–cell contacts.

  Original research paper Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology 11 88 - 89 doi:10.1038/nrm2837

• T cell activation: A silent toll for T cells

  

  Toll-like receptors (TLRs) have well-described roles in activating innate immune cell populations, but although T cells have also been shown to express TLRs, their function in these adaptive immune cells remains unclear. Now, a study by Raz and colleagues shows that TLR4 signalling in T cells can negatively regulate activation signals delivered by the T cell receptor (TCR).

  Original research paper Nature Reviews Immunology 10 83 doi:10.1038/nri2714

• Metastasis: Motion capture

  

  The ever more complex story of p53 and its relations took an interesting turn as the decade drew to a close. The function of mutant p53 proteins during tumour development is a hotly debated topic and a recent publication in Cell indicates that invasion, integrins and receptor recycling are all important to the tale.

  Original research paper Nature Reviews Cancer 10 80 - 81 doi:10.1038/nrc2796

• Synaptogenesis: A new partner for neurexins

  

  Synapse formation is driven by a host of different cell adhesion molecules. One of the most recent to be identified is leucine-rich repeat transmembrane neuronal protein 2 (LRRTM2). Two papers now provide details of the mechanisms by which LRRTM2 affects synaptogenesis, revealing that it acts as a ligand for neurexin 1, a receptor that is widely known for its binding to the neuroligins.

  Original research paper Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11 72 doi:10.1038/nrn2798

• Inflammation: TLRs find a partner in crime

  

  A recent study published in Nature Immunology describes a new mechanism of sterile inflammation that is common to atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. It shows that the recognition of altered self components that aggregate in plaques in these two diseases by the scavenger receptor CD36 triggers the assembly of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and TLR6 heterodimers, leading to the induction of pro-inflammatory responses that underlie the pathology of these diseases.

  Original research paper Nature Reviews Immunology 10 82 doi:10.1038/nri2718