FEBS Letters Prague Special Issue

This collection showcases and extends knowledge transfer around the 43rd FEBS Congress (July 7–12, 2018), with a selection of review articles from invited speakers at the event.
FEBS Letters Prague Special Issue
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As in 1968 and in 2009, the 2018 FEBS Congress again is hosted in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. Prague, having a long tradition in arts and sciences, gained particular importance in the 14th and again in the 16th-17th century. Under the rule of Karl IV of the House of Luxemburg, Prague became one of the most prosperous European cities and the cultural capital of Central Europe. Later on, supported by Rudolf II of the House of Habsburg, Prague continued to be a center of arts and sciences, attracting famous scientists such as the astronomers Tycho de Brahe and Johannes Keppler. Over the following centuries, the city and the entire Czechoslovakian territory was the birthplace of most outstanding artists, writers, politicians and scientists, such as Antonin Dvorak, Franz Kafka, Rainer-Maria Rilke, Sigmund Freud, Madlaine Albright or Vaclav Havel, just to name a few. With this 2018 Prague Congress FEBS pays tribute to important biological discoveries brought about by the most renowned Czech life scientists, including the outstanding Gregor Mendel, botanist and abbot of the Augustinian St. Thomas Abbey in Alt-Brünn, and the Nobel Laureates Jaroslav Heyrovsky and Gerty and Carl Cori. They all made extremely important contributions to their respective field.

The lively programme of the Congress this year offers a wealth of cutting-edge topics for discussion. As a result, in this FEBS Letters Prague Special Issue we present a broad selection of Review articles contributed by invited speakers addressing topical questions. The areas covered include Plant Biology, focusing on the function of the kinesin 14 family, host-pathogen interactions, the use of the CRISPR-Cas system in plant breeding and the mechanosensors MSL10 and DEK1 [1-5]; RNA Biology, including contributions on micro-RNA processing, native nucleic acid structure, epitranscriptomic mRNA modification, telomerase reverse transcription and the locus-specific mapping of 5-methylcytosine and its oxidized derivatives [6-10]; Metabolism, with contributions on acetyl-CoA carboxylase targeting, isoprene synthesis in Cyanobacteria and bile acid hydroxyl group oxidation and the gut microbiome [11-13]; Cellular Signaling, discussing the role of FOXO proteins in cellular senescence, temperature control of obesity, the role talins play in integrin signaling and nitric oxide synthesis by molybdenum enzymes [14-17]; Chemical Biology of Thiols, focusing on hydropersulfides and related polysulfides [18]. In addition, there are contributions on structural data archiving [19], the iNEXT network presented by Lucia Banci [20], DNA-encoded chemical libraries [21] and DNA-functionalized biomedical surfaces [22].

With this Special Issue, FEBS Letters would like to acknowledge the efforts of the Biochemical Society of the Czech Republic for taking over responsibility to organize the 2018 Congress. We also thank all contributors for their insightful Reviews.

As FEBS Letters was founded in 1968, 2018 is a special year for the journal. We are celebrating its 50th anniversary with a number of exceptional activities, among which the symposium "50 Years of Molecular Life Sciences with FEBS Letters", held last May in Heidelberg, stands out. It was at the FEBS Congress in Prague in 1968 when the journal was born. Today we meet in Prague again, and would like to take the opportunity to wish FEBS Letters another 50 years of good science to come!

Wilhelm Just

References

Gicking AM, Swentowsky KW, Dawe RK and Qiu W (2018Functional diversification of the kinesin‐14 family in land plantsFEBS Lett 592, 1918–1928

Daniel de Vega D, Newton AC and Sadanandom A (2018Post‐translational modifications in priming the plant immune system: ripe for exploitation? FEBS Lett 592, 1929–1936

Nobori T, Mine A and Tsuda K (2018Molecular networks in plant‐pathogen holobiontFEBS Lett 592, 1937–1953

Schindele P, Wolter F and Puchta H (2018Transforming plant biology and breeding with CRISPR/Cas9, Cas12 and Cas13FEBS Lett 592, 1954–1967

Guerringue Y, Thomine S and Frachisse JM (2018Sensing and transducing forces in plants with MSL10 and DEK1 mechanosensorsFEBS Lett 592, 1968–1979

Creugny A, Fender A and Pfeffer S (2018Regulation of primary‐microRNA processingFEBS Lett592, 1980–1996

Giassa I‐C, Jan Rynes J, Tomas Fessl T, Foldynova‐Trantirkova S and Trantirek L (2018Advances in the cellular structural biology of nucleic acidsFEBS Lett 592, 1997–2011

Mauer J and Jaffrey SR (2018FTO, m6Am, and the hypothesis of reversible epitranscriptomic mRNA modificationsFEBS Lett 592, 2012–2022

Hannen R and Bartsch JW (2018Essential roles of telomerase reverse transcriptase hTERT in cancer stemness and metastasisFEBS Lett 592, 2023–2031

10 Dietzsch J, Feineis D and Höbartner C (2018Chemoselective labeling and site‐specific mapping of 5‐formylcytosine as a cellular nucleic acid modificationFEBS Lett 592, 2032–2047

11 Jang S, Gornicki P, Marjanovic M, Bass E, Lurcotta T, Rodriguez P, Austin J II and Haselkorn R (2018Activity and structure of human acetyl‐CoA carboxylase targeted by a specific inhibitorFEBS Lett 592, 2048–2058 (Research Letter)

12 Chaves JE and Melis A (2018Engineering isoprene synthesis in cyanobacteriaFEBS Lett 592, 2059–2069

13 Hylemon PB, Harris SH and Ridlon JM (2018Metabolism of hydrogen gases and bile acids in the gut microbiomeFEBS Lett 592, 2070–2082

14 Benjamin Bourgeois B and Madl T (2018Regulation of cellular senescence via the FOXO4‐p53 axisFEBS Lett 592, 2083–2097

15 Reitman ML (2018Of mice and men: environmental temperature, body temperature, and treatment of obesityFEBS Lett 592, 2098–2107

16 Gough RE and Goult BT (2018The tale of two talins – two isoforms to fine‐tune integrin signalling. FEBS Lett 592, 2108–2125

17 Bender D and Schwarz G (2018Nitrite‐dependent nitric oxide synthesis by molybdenum enzymesFEBS Lett 592, 2126–2139

18 Fukuto JM, Ignarro LJ, Nagy P, Wink DA, Kevil CG, Feelisch M, Cortese‐Krott MM, Bianco CL, Kumagai Y, Hobbs AJ et al. (2018Biological hydropersulfides and related polysulfides: a new concept and perspective in redox biologyFEBS Lett 592, 2140–2152

19 Kleywegt GJ, Sameer Velankar S and Patwardhan A (2018Structural biology data archiving: where we are and what lies aheadFEBS Lett 592, 2153–2167

20 Banci L (2018iNEXT: a European facility network to stimulate translational structural biologyFEBS Lett 592, 1909–1917

21 Favalli N, Gabriele Bassi G, Scheuermann J and Neri D (2018DNA‐encoded chemical libraries: achievements and remaining challengesFEBS Lett 592, 2168–2180

22 Scharnweber D, Bierbaum S and Wolf‐Brandstetter C (2018Utilizing DNA for functionalization of biomaterial surfacesFEBS Lett 592, 2181–2196

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