This week’s articles identify microbial metabolites that stimulate GPCRs; a transmembrane protein that maintains PD-L1 at the plasma membrane; immune enhancer elements that respond to specific extracellular signals; a signaling pathway that defines the right side of the vertebrate embryo; functions for ionotropic glutamate receptors in plants; and structural features of AMPA receptors during activation and desensitization.
HOST-MICROBE INTERACTIONS
Commensals stimulate GPCRs
Cohen et al. found that human intestinal microbiota produce metabolites that influence gastrointestinal physiology by acting as ligands for G protein–coupled receptors.
CANCER
Aiding and abetting immune evasion
Burr et al. and Mezzadra et al. identified a transmembrane protein that maintains the immune checkpoint ligand PD-L1 at the plasma membrane, thus contributing to the ability of tumor cells to evade antitumor immunity.
IMMUNOLOGY
Integrating immune signaling at enhancers
Simeonov et al. found enhancer elements that control the expression of genes implicated in autoimmune disease in response to specific extracellular signals.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
Specifying the embryo’s right side
Ocaña et al. identified a conserved right-specific signaling pathway that cooperates with previously identified left-specific signaling events to direct heart looping in vertebrates.
Glutamate receptor function in plants
Ortiz-Ramírez et al. found that ionotropic glutamate receptors are required for sperm chemotaxis and zygote development in mosses (see also Steinhorst and Kudla).
STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY
AMPA receptor gating
Twomey et al. used cryoelectron microscopy to explore the conformational changes during activation and desensitization of AMPA receptors
