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June 2018

The herpesvirus family includes many important human pathogens such as herpes simplex viruses that cause cold-sores and human cytomegalovirus, a major cause of congenital abnormalities; several herpes viruses are known to cause cancer. Herpes viruses assemble enveloped virus particles (virions) that incorporate a large DNA-containing icosahedral capsid. Virion assembly commences in the nucleus of an infected cell, where the viral genome is pumped into preassembled capsids by a portal motor that is located at a unique 5-fold symmetry axis—the portal-vertex. This study by McElwee et al. used cryogenic electron microscopy and 3D image reconstruction to solve the structure of the portal-vertex of herpes simplex virus type 1 at 8 Å resolution. Their structure reveals the presence of several previously unknown features including a novel pentameric assembly that exhibits a coiled-coil motif comprising two α-helices. The image shows a close-up view of the portal-vertex, including the portal (mauve), the pentameric portal-vertex protein (purple), and the periportal triplex-like density (magenta).

Image Credit: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2006191

Perspective

The bench is closer to the bedside than we think: Uncovering the ethical ties between preclinical researchers in translational neuroscience and patients in clinical trials

Mark Yarborough, Annelien Bredenoord, Flavio D’Abramo, Nanette C. Joyce, Jonathan Kimmelman, Ubaka Ogbogu, Emily Sena, Daniel Strech, Ulrich Dirnagl

Research Articles

Haploid selection, sex ratio bias, and transitions between sex-determining systems

Michael Francis Scott, Matthew Miles Osmond, Sarah Perin Otto

An observational study of ballooning in large spiders: Nanoscale multifibers enable large spiders’ soaring flight

Moonsung Cho, Peter Neubauer, Christoph Fahrenson, Ingo Rechenberg

Mice learn to avoid regret

Brian M. Sweis, Mark J. Thomas, A. David Redish

The role of inferior frontal junction in controlling the spatially global effect of feature-based attention in human visual areas

Xilin Zhang, Nicole Mlynaryk, Sara Ahmed, Shruti Japee, Leslie G. Ungerleider

Amygdala activity for the modulation of goal-directed behavior in emotional contexts

Kazutaka Maeda, Jun Kunimatsu, Okihide Hikosaka

Descending pathways generate perception of and neural responses to weak sensory input

Michael G. Metzen, Chengjie G. Huang, Maurice J. Chacron

Cell-nonautonomous local and systemic responses to cell arrest enable long-bone catch-up growth in developing mice

Alberto Roselló-Díez, Linda Madisen, Sébastien Bastide, Hongkui Zeng, Alexandra L. Joyner

METTL3-mediated m6A modification is required for cerebellar development

Chen-Xin Wang, Guan-Shen Cui, Xiuying Liu, Kai Xu, Meng Wang, Xin-Xin Zhang, Li-Yuan Jiang, Ang Li, Ying Yang, Wei-Yi Lai, Bao-Fa Sun, Gui-Bin Jiang, Hai-Lin Wang, Wei-Min Tong, Wei Li, Xiu-Jie Wang, Yun-Gui Yang, Qi Zhou

Human TSCM cell dynamics in vivo are compatible with long-lived immunological memory and stemness

Pedro Costa del Amo, Julio Lahoz-Beneytez, Lies Boelen, Raya Ahmed, Kelly L. Miners, Yan Zhang, Laureline Roger, Rhiannon E. Jones, Silvia A. Fuertes Marraco, Daniel E. Speiser, Duncan M. Baird, David A. Price, Kristin Ladell, Derek Macallan, Becca Asquith

CDKN1B/p27 is localized in mitochondria and improves respiration-dependent processes in the cardiovascular system—New mode of action for caffeine

Niloofar Ale-Agha, Christine Goy, Philipp Jakobs, Ioakim Spyridopoulos, Stefanie Gonnissen, Nadine Dyballa-Rukes, Karin Aufenvenne, Florian von Ameln, Mark Zurek, Tim Spannbrucker, Olaf Eckermann, Sascha Jakob, Simone Gorressen, Marcel Abrams, Maria Grandoch, Jens W. Fischer, Karl Köhrer, René Deenen, Klaus Unfried, Joachim Altschmied, Judith Haendeler

Dietary rescue of lipotoxicity-induced mitochondrial damage in Peroxin19 mutants

Julia Sellin, Christian Wingen, Dominic Gosejacob, Deniz Senyilmaz, Lea Hänschke, Sven Büttner, Katharina Meyer, Daniele Bano, Pierluigi Nicotera, Aurelio A. Teleman, Margret H. Bülow

The zinc transporter ZIPT-7.1 regulates sperm activation in nematodes

Yanmei Zhao, Chieh-Hsiang Tan, Amber Krauchunas, Andrea Scharf, Nicholas Dietrich, Kurt Warnhoff, Zhiheng Yuan, Marina Druzhinina, Sam Guoping Gu, Long Miao, Andrew Singson, Ronald E. Ellis, Kerry Kornfeld

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Development of novel NEMO-binding domain mimetics for inhibiting IKK/NF-κB activation

Jing Zhao, Lei Zhang, Xiaodong Mu, Christelle Doebelin, William Nguyen, Callen Wallace, Daniel P. Reay, Sara J. McGowan, Lana Corbo, Paula R. Clemens, Gabriela Mustata Wilson, Simon C. Watkins, Laura A. Solt, Michael D. Cameron, Johnny Huard, Laura J. Niedernhofer, Theodore M. Kamenecka, Paul D. Robbins

DENR–MCTS1 heterodimerization and tRNA recruitment are required for translation reinitiation

Yasar Luqman Ahmed, Sibylle Schleich, Jonathan Bohlen, Nicolas Mandel, Bernd Simon, Irmgard Sinning, Aurelio A. Teleman

A speed–fidelity trade-off determines the mutation rate and virulence of an RNA virus

William J. Fitzsimmons, Robert J. Woods, John T. McCrone, Andrew Woodman, Jamie J. Arnold, Madhumita Yennawar, Richard Evans, Craig E. Cameron, Adam S. Lauring

Related Articles

Condensin ATPase motifs contribute differentially to the maintenance of chromosome morphology and genome stability

Roger Palou, Thillaivillalan Dhanaraman, Rim Marrakchi, Mirela Pascariu, Mike Tyers, Damien D’Amours

Short Reports

Loss of RXFP2 and INSL3 genes in Afrotheria shows that testicular descent is the ancestral condition in placental mammals

Virag Sharma, Thomas Lehmann, Heiko Stuckas, Liane Funke, Michael Hiller

Visual attention is not deployed at the endpoint of averaging saccades

Luca Wollenberg, Heiner Deubel, Martin Szinte

A sensory-motor neuron type mediates proprioceptive coordination of steering in C. elegans via two TRPC channels

Jihye Yeon, Jinmahn Kim, Do-Young Kim, Hyunmin Kim, Jungha Kim, Eun Jo Du, KyeongJin Kang, Hyun-Ho Lim, Daewon Moon, Kyuhyung Kim

Structure of the herpes simplex virus portal-vertex

Marion McElwee, Swetha Vijayakrishnan, Frazer Rixon, David Bhella

Methods and Resources

Reporters to mark and eliminate basal or luminal epithelial cells in culture and in vivo

Olmo Sonzogni, Jennifer Haynes, Laurie A. Seifried, Yahia M. Kamel, Kai Huang, Michael D. BeGora, Faith Au Yeung, Celine Robert-Tissot, Yujing J. Heng, Xin Yuan, Gerbug M. Wulf, Ken J. Kron, Elvin Wagenblast, Mathieu Lupien, Thomas Kislinger, Gregory J. Hannon, Senthil K. Muthuswamy

Classes and continua of hippocampal CA1 inhibitory neurons revealed by single-cell transcriptomics

Kenneth D. Harris, Hannah Hochgerner, Nathan G. Skene, Lorenza Magno, Linda Katona, Carolina Bengtsson Gonzales, Peter Somogyi, Nicoletta Kessaris, Sten Linnarsson, Jens Hjerling-Leffler

Meta-Research Article

Reporting bias in the literature on the associations of health-related behaviors and statins with cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality

Leandro Fórnias Machado de Rezende, Juan Pablo Rey-López, Thiago Hérick de Sá, Nicholas Chartres, Alice Fabbri, Lauren Powell, Emmanuel Stamatakis, Lisa Bero