From paper chromatography to drug discovery: Zaffaroni.

A paper chromatography assay for adrenocortical steroids, published just as cortisone's therapeutic value in arthritis was announced, had far-reaching consequences. Its use by Upjohn scientists led to the first synthesis of cortisone. Interest in the assay also led the author to an association with Syntex S.A. in Mexico, which he was instrumental in transforming from a small chemical company into the large pharmaceutical firm, Syntex Corporation, having its base of operations in the United States. The major events of this history are described, showing how steroid product development helped establish Syntex and later played a role in the founding of ALZA Corporation.     

Pre-mRNP particles: From gene to nuclear pore.

It has been difficult to establish whether pre-messenger ribonucleoprotein (pre-mRNP) particles move from the gene towards the periphery of the nucleus in a directed or random manner. Two recent in vivo studies indicate that most pre-mRNP particles move randomly in the nucleus, apparently by free diffusion.     

From phage to chromosome biology: a personal account.

A personal account from phage morphogenesis to chromosome biology is described in this review.     

From protein structure to function.

Several databases of protein structural families now exist-organised according to both evolutionary relationships and common folding arrangements. Although these lag behind sequence databases in size, the prospect of structural genomics initiatives means that they may soon include representatives of many of the sequence families. To some extent, functional information can be derived from structural similarity. For some structural families, their function is highly conserved, whereas, for others, it can only be inherited or derived on the basis of additional information (e.g. sequence patterns, common residue clusters and characteristic surface properties).     

From linked marker to gene.

An area of increasing importance in human genetics research is the strategy of 'reverse genetics' or 'positional cloning', whereby a gene associated with a genetic disease is isolated on the basis of its approximate chromosomal position. This article and the accompanying centrepage diagram describe the main features of this strategy and outline the techniques involved; they are designed to be used for teaching purposes and as a general reference for those from other fields of genetics research.     

From RNA helicases to RNPases.

In eukaryotic cells, all aspects of cellular RNA metabolism require putative RNA helicases of the DEAD and DExH protein families (collectively known as DExD/H families). Based on data from biochemical studies of a few of these RNA helicases, they are generally considered to be involved in the unwinding of duplex RNA molecules. However, recent reports provide evidence indicating that these proteins might also be involved in the active disruption of RNA-protein interactions.     

From protein sequence to function.

As genome sequences and protein structures are deciphered, we wish to predict their corresponding functions. Many functions cannot be told from from the sequence, however, although there has been progress in this quest for an impossible Grail. Furthermore, a structure and its corresponding sequence become most interesting when one knows the function. Inductive reasoning, based on the integration of biological and sequence knowledge, should enable sequence and functional data to be combined in a productive way.