Target practice: Zic2 hits the bullseye!

Target practice: Zic2 hits the bullseye!

A major challenge in biology is to unravel how the billions of neurons of the nervous system make appropriate functional connections. This is known to be a multistep developmental process that includes guiding, targeting and refinement of axons. In this issue of The EMBO Journal, Garcı́a-Frigola and Herrera show compelling evidence that, within the visual system, the same transcription factor (Z...

GP Budget Holding: Scoring a Bullseye or Missing the Target?

Untargeted metabolomic analysis hits the target.

Propionic (PA) and methylmalonic (MMA) acidemias are inborn errors of the metabolism of several important amino acids, the side chain of the cholesterol molecule, and dietary odd chain-length fatty acids. PA results from a deficiency of mitochondrial propionyl-CoA carboxylase, an enzyme that requires biotin as a cofactor and converts propionyl-CoA to D-methylmalonyl-CoA. Classical MMA results f...

Guanylyl cyclase: NO hits its target.

The NO receptor, NO-sensitive guanylyl cyclase, plays a key role in the NO/cGMP signal-transduction cascade. Two isoforms of the enzyme are currently known, the widely distributed vascular alpha1beta1 isoform and the neuronal alpha2beta1 isoform predominantly expressed in brain. Interaction with the PSD-95 (postsynaptic density protein-95) family of scaffolding proteins targets the neuronal alp...

How γ-secretase hits a moving target

An improved understanding of the ways that amyloid-beta peptides are formed could help efforts to find a treatment for Alzheimer's disease.