EMBO J (2013) 32 9, 1225–1237. doi:; DOI: 10.1038/emboj.2013.51
ADP-ribose-based intermediates, including PARP-generated mono- and poly(ADP-ribose) post-translational modifications, are important to a number of cellular signalling processes. The reversal of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation is mostly attributed to PARG, which however cannot remove the final protein-linked mono(ADP-ribose) residue. Three recent studies, one of them in The EMBO Journal, now report that certain macrodomains remove terminal ADP-ribose modifications from acidic residues.