In this review, Jordi Pérez Gil and Manuel Rodríguez Concepción discuss the major advances in our knowledge of the biochemical "toolbox" [i.e. with respect to the MEP (methylerythritol 4-phosphate) and MVA (mevalonate) pathways] that are exploited by bacteria to synthesize the universal precursors for their essential isoprenoids.

In this paper, Christopher McIntosh and colleagues provide evidence that both GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) increase acetylation and phosphorylation of the Kv1.5 channel protein and its Kvβ2 subunit, leading to their enhanced interaction via the modulation of CBP (CREB [cAMP-response-element-binding protein]-binding protein) and sirtuin deacetylase SirT1.

In this review Victor Zammit considers the specialized role of DGAT2 (diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2) in providing a link between glycaemia and triglyceridaemia, and details how DGAT2 stands at the centre of carbohydrate-induced hypertriglyceridaemia and hepatic steatosis.

In this paper, Prem Ponka and colleagues have explored the possibility that NO (nitric oxide) affects iron metabolism in reticulocytes, and present results which suggest that NO may also contribute to AI (anaemia of inflammation).