Tribbles at the cross-roads…

Interest in the biology of tribbles (TRIB) pseudokinase family has been growing steadily since their first description in Drosophila as a regulator of cell division and migration during embryonic development. It is now clear that TRIB proteins play important roles in controlling a number of distinct physiological systems, including insulin-mediated energy homoeostasis, plasma lipid levels via regulation of hepatic cholesterol secretion as well as in innate immune responses. However, they also appear to be involved in some of the most common human diseases, such as cancer, metabolic disease and hyperlipidaemia. As a result of these observations, a new study involving TRIB is published weekly, as revealed by a systematic search of the published literature (Figure 1). The rate by which novel data is published is accelerating, but does this help to understand the molecular basis of action and to define the fundamental importance of TRIB proteins in (patho)physiology?...