Peroxisomes: Organelles at the crossroads

Recent years have seen remarkable progress in our understanding of the function of peroxisomes in higher and lower eukaryotes. Combined genetic and biochemical approaches have led to the identification of many genes required for the biogenesis of this organelle. This review summarizes recent, rather surprising, results and discusses how they can be incorporated into the current view of peroxisome biogenesis.     

Peptide libraries: at the crossroads of proteomics and bioinformatics

Peptide libraries offer a valuable means for providing functional information regarding protein-modifying enzymes and protein interaction domains. Library approaches have become increasingly useful as high-throughput strategies for the analysis of large numbers of new proteins identified as a result of genome-sequencing efforts. Recent developments in the field have produced faster methods with broadened applicability. Crucially, new computational and biochemical tools have emerged that facilitate identification of interaction partners and substrates for proteins on the basis of their peptide selectivity profiles. Such combinations of proteomics-scale experimental approaches with bioinformatics tools hold great promise for the elucidation of protein interaction networks and signal transduction pathways in living cells.     

Dockers at the crossroads.

The family of docker proteins containing phosphotyrosine-binding (PTB) domains appears to represent a family of critically positioned and exquisitely controlled signalling proteins that relay signals from the activated receptors to downstream pathways. These proteins all have a membrane attachment domain, a PTB domain that targets the protein to a subset of receptors and a number of phosphorylatable tyrosines that dock other signalling proteins. Evidence is accruing that suggests that the PTB domain has evolved from a pleckstrin homology (PH) domain to bind to a range of sequences that, while bestowing specificity, allows switching of the docker protein between receptors or signalling systems. The history of the PTB domain and how it influences the participation of docker protein in various signalling pathways are discussed.     

Cell biology and medicine at the crossroads

Report on the meeting: Frontiers in Cell Biology and Medicine, University of York, UK, 26-29 September 2010