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The short nature of microRNAs (miRNAs) has presented unique obstacles to experimental biologists. Two research papers in this issue of Nature Methods describe solutions to some of these problems and provide high-resolution data on the expression patterns of these tiny regulatory RNAs.
A new carefully optimized and characterized genetically encoded fluorescent sensor for cyclic GMP (cGMP) has fast kinetics and properties that should make it an excellent compromise between sensitivity and specificity when compared to existing sensors.
A new caging group based on the nitrodibenzofuran chromophore has been developed with improved photochemical properties for both ultraviolet and two-photon photolysis applications, providing a new tool for the rapid and efficient release of calcium ions for biological studies.
A Xenopus embryo coinjected with a plasmid encoding a transgene and the φC31 integrase mRNA readily facilitates genomic integration resulting in healthy transgenic embryos.
The pathogenic arsenal of many bacteria includes an apparatus that mediates the injection of a cocktail of virulence proteins directly into host cells. Spatiotemporal aspects of this process can now be analyzed in living cells.
Understanding neuronal integration comes a step closer to reality with the development of a crystal-based, beam-steering microscope for uncaging neurotransmitters, which will permit experimental interrogation of the spatiotemporal interactions between the thousands of synapses a neuron receives.
Since the 1970s, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching has advanced our understanding of cell membrane dynamics and cytoplasmic signaling pathways. This technique has now been applied in the nucleus to address questions in epigenetics and provides a useful new tool to develop pharmacotherapies for human disease.
The Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon emerged as a useful tool for applications such as germline and somatic cell insertional mutagenesis and now shows its usefulness again by facilitating saturating germline mutagenesis in mice.
How sure can we be to have identified the right proteins in a large scale proteomics study with our mass spectrometric instrumentation? Can we expect valid data from the employed search algorithm(s)? Can we believe what our computer is telling us? Right questions—what are the answers?
In this issue a review and a protocol describe advances in applying amperometry to biology. Here we provide an overview of amperometry's origins and how it is used to examine the basics of exocytosis.
With the advent of microfluidics technology and the development of a user-friendly device, studying high-density colonies of microorganisms in controlled chemostatic conditions now becomes a reality.
