Papers to Watch

"By following GFP-labeled newly-born adult dentate granule cells, a critical period of 1-1.5 months was identified, and the increased plasticity depended on developmentally regulated synaptic expression of NR2B-containing NMDA [N-methyl d-aspartate] receptors. This critical period may be important for mediating experience-induced plasticity and stabilizing mature circuitry."

--Y. Peng Loh
National Institutes of Health, United States

"The authors provide evidence for a two-step process by which motile cilia become oriented within the epithelium: The first step of rough alignment depends on developmental cues, while the second step depends on flow-mediated feedback from the cilia themselves."

--Jeffrey Axelrod
Stanford University, United States

"By fusing a mutant form of the rapamycin-binding FKBP12 to various proteins, the authors show that such chimeric proteins are subject to rapid degradation unless protected by binding a cell-permeable ligand, termed Shld1. Unlike RNAi, the method is inherently tunable, in that protein degradation is proportional to the amount of added Shld1."

--Jonathan Chernoff
Fox Chase Cancer Center, United States

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