Rektor Schütze:

Background The ability to deposit histone H3K27-trimethyl (me3) marks is essential for transcriptional repression by Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2). This is largely attributed to Polycomb repres...

MicroRNAs guide Argonaute proteins to repress gene expression. Here, the authors define the binding rules for five Drosophila miRNAs, showing a narrow preference for canonical seed sites and identifyi...

TFIID is instrumental in recognizing promoter sequences and initiating transcription, yet a cohesive understanding of how this complex interacts with and functions at different promoter types in vivo ...

Accurate repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is essential for genome stability, and defective repair underlies diseases such as cancer. Homologous recombination uses an intact homologous sequenc...

We discover and study reverse transcriptases

Eukaryotic genomes generate a plethora of polyadenylated (pA+) RNAs[1][1],[2][2], that are packaged into ribonucleoprotein particles (RNPs). To ensure faithful gene expression, functional pA+ RNPs, in...

IMB Mainz

Portell-Montserrat et al. reveal that target RNA recognition by PIWI-piRNA complexes triggers the assembly of conserved PIWI∗ complexes, molecular platforms that recruit silencing effectors in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. This mechanism, conserved across animals, explains how piRNA pathways couple target recognition to transposon silencing.

Transposable elements pose a persistent threat to genome integrity, yet how host defense systems adapt to newly invading elements remains poorly understood. Here, we reveal how Drosophila melanogaster...