This week’s articles highlight the role of a sugar metabolite in cellular energy sensing, how the hypothalamus controls aging, and how structural changes in protein complexes regulate the development and maintenance of plant roots.
METABOLISM
Sugar regulation of AMPK
Zhang et al. found that fructose-1,6-bisphosphate, which is produced during glucose metabolism, inhibits activation of the kinase AMPK (see also Kemp and Oakhill).
AGING
Vitality in hypothalamic miRNAs
Y. Zhang et al. report that the decline of exosomal release of microRNAs from stem cells in the hypothalamus contributes to aging.
PLANT BIOLOGY
Root specification through complex conformation
Long et al. found that in Arabidopsis roots, protein complexes change their conformation in a cell type–dependent manner to regulate gene expression.