Today's Science has a special feature on advances in single-molecule techniques. This portal includes papers on protein counting, transcription factor binding, and understanding the dynamics of single molecules, as well as several reviews of relevant efforts in the space. Among the technologies highlighted are NMR, X-ray crystallography, microfluidics, and computational work.
Another prime focus in the current issue is on DNA damage and cellular response. Following a review by John Petrini from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, four papers home in on different aspects of DNA damage:
- Lead author Shuhei Matsuoka from Brigham and Women's Hospital reports on a large-scale analysis of phosphorylated proteins in response to DNA damage, finding more than 900 phosphorylation sites implicating at least 700 proteins.
- Bin Wang, also at Brigham and Women's, is the lead author on a paper demonstrating proteins that bind into a complex that is required for DNA damage response linked to breast and ovarian cancer.
- Dana-Farber's Bijan Sobhian is lead author on another paper focusing on the interaction of a particular breast cancer tumor suppressor with a ubiquitin-binding protein.
- Finally, Hongtae Kim at Yale is first author on a paper that also focuses on RAP80 and its role in the breast cancer-associated damage response.
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