The EMBO Journal Table of Contents for January 2016; Vol. 35, No. 2

January 2016 | Volume 35, Number 2 Submit Table of Contents News & Views Articles Volume 35, Number 2 News & Views Absence of TDP‐43 is difficult to digest The ALS‐associated RNA binding protein TDP‐43 regulates autophagy and lysosome gene expression as well as dynactin 1‐mediated autophagosome fusion. Abnormal regulation of autophagy contributes to TDP‐43‐associated neurotoxicity. Natasa Skoko, Marco Baralle, and Francisco E Baralle Published online 23.12.2015 Knock‐in(g) RAF for a loop Phosphorylation of the BRAF activation loop might stabilize an active, dimeric kinase structure. A new study reveals that the phosphorylation is required for mouse development and affects the tumorigenic potential of a subset of BRAF mutants. Andrea Varga and Manuela Baccarini Published online 15.12.2015 Articles TDP‐43 loss of function increases TFEB activity and blocks autophagosome–lysosome fusion RNA binding protein TDP‐43 aggregates are linked to ALS. TDP‐43 deficiency leads to decreased dynactin 1 expression, blocking autophagic flux; it also reduces mTORC1 activity, leading to increased autophagy and lysosome gene expression via TFEB. Abnormal regulation of autophagy contributes to TDP‐43‐associated neurotoxicity. Qin Xia, Hongfeng Wang, Zongbing Hao, Cheng Fu, Qingsong Hu, Feng Gao, Haigang Ren, Dong Chen, Junhai Han, Zheng Ying, and Guanghui Wang Published online 23.12.2015 Activation loop phosphorylation regulates B‐Raf in vivo and transformation by B‐Raf mutants B‐Raf activation loop phosphorylation is required for ERK/MAPK signalling and transformation by oncogenic BRAF, but it is dispensable for murine development. Blocking phosphorylation could represent an alternative strategy for treating tumours with BRAF fusion oncogenes. Martin Köhler, Michael Röring, Björn Schorch, Katharina Heilmann, Natalie Stickel, Gina J Fiala, Lisa C Schmitt, Sandra Braun, Sophia Ehrenfeld, Franziska M Uhl, Thorsten Kaltenbacher, Florian Weinberg, Sebastian Herzog, Robert Zeiser, Wolfgang W Schamel, Hassan Jumaa, and Tilman Brummer Published online 10.12.2015 A hit‐and‐run heat shock factor governs sustained histone methylation and transcriptional stress memory Stress exposure can prime for an enhanced response upon re‐exposure. In Arabidopsis, heat stress‐mediated priming is associated with stable histone H3 lysine 4 di‐ and trimethylation and requires transcription factor HSFA2 that only transiently binds to the primed gene loci. Jörn Lämke, Krzysztof Brzezinka, Simone Altmann, and Isabel Bäurle Published online 09.12.2015 BRPF3‐HBO1 regulates replication origin activation and histone H3K14 acetylation An RNAi screen for chromatin regulators of replication control reveals an origin activation role of HBO1 acetyltransferase role that is separate from its function in origin licensing. Yunpeng Feng, Arsenios Vlassis, Céline Roques, Marie‐Eve Lalonde, Cristina González‐Aguilera, Jean‐Philippe Lambert, Sung‐Bau Lee, Xiaobei Zhao, Constance Alabert, Jens V Johansen, Eric Paquet, Xiang‐Jiao Yang, Anne‐Claude Gingras, Jacques Côté, and Anja Groth Published online 30.11.2015 Subtelomeric p53 binding prevents accumulation of DNA damage at human telomeres Binding of p53 to non‐canonical response elements in human subtelomeres confers enhancer‐like activities and correlates with increased telomere stability. Stephen Tutton, Greggory A Azzam, Nicholas Stong, Olga Vladimirova, Andreas Wiedmer, Jessica A Monteith, Kate Beishline, Zhuo Wang, Zhong Deng, Harold Riethman, Steven B McMahon, Maureen Murphy, and Paul M Lieberman Published online 12.12.2015 BH3‐in‐groove dimerization initiates and helix 9 dimerization expands Bax pore assembly in membranes Apoptotic Bax oligomers permeabilize the mitochondrial outer membrane. Structural analyses and modeling of Bax interactions at mitochondria show that BH3‐in‐groove dimerization on membranes initiates the pore assembly, which is followed by helix 9 dimerization‐mediated expansion. Zhi Zhang, Sabareesh Subramaniam, Justin Kale, Chenyi Liao, Bo Huang, Hetal Brahmbhatt, Samson GF Condon, Suzanne M Lapolla, Franklin A Hays, Jingzhen Ding, Feng He, Xuejun C Zhang, Jianing Li, Alessandro Senes, David W Andrews, and Jialing Lin Published online 23.12.2015   Unsubscribe from or edit your subscription for this service. Or by mail: Customer Service * 425 Broadway St * Redwood City, CA 94063 * U.S.A. Copyright © 2016 by the European Molecular Biology Organisation.