Papers to watch

Destabilized mutants of the cytosolic protein FKBP12 are rapidly and constitutively degraded when expressed in mammalian cells but these unstable mutants can be rescued by addition of a synthetic FKBP12 ligand. When fused to other proteins, then ligand-induced rescue from degradation is also observed.

Sophie Jackson
University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

This study uses a human embryonic stem cells and five-step protocol in vitro to recapitulate the normal embryonic developmental process that leads to the formation of insulin producing cells. The cells produced by using this protocol generate insulin at levels that are similar to those produced by normal islets.

Raghavendra Mirmira
University of Virginia, USA

This paper might lead one to the conclusion that our amazing accumulation of knowledge about cancer mutations has only informed us that the major cancers cannot be attacked in ways that go much beyond our current reliance on the relatively crude methods of inhibiting tumor growth with drugs that block DNA replication or mitosis.

Kai Zinn
California Institute of Technology, USA

These papers were selected from multiple disciplines from the Faculty of 1000, a web-based literature awareness tool (www.f1000biology.com).