Cell signaling: The BRCT domain: signaling with friends?

The tandem BRCT domains of the tumor suppressor protein BRCA1 are thought to contribute to this protein's function in the cellular response to DNA damage. In his Perspective, Caldecott discusses new work ( Yu et al., Manke et al.) showing that the BRCT domains of BRCA1 and of other proteins bind specifically to phosphorylated amino acids in their protein partners.