In the Spotlight in the latest edition of the Biochemical Journal is a paper by Kumara Dissanayake in Carol MacKintosh's group "Erk/p90RSK/14-3-3 signalling impacts on expression of PEA3 Ets transcription factors via capicca". Capicúa, pronounced Cap-ee-Coo-a, is Catalan for head-and-tail, named because mutation of the fruit fly version affects early head and tail development. Now, Kumara reports his discovery that human capicúa is a missing link between the oncogenic Erk signaling pathway and downstream transcription of ETV1 and other genes that are linked to particularly aggressive forms of prostate cancer and melanoma. Specifically, capicúa represses mRNA expression of the PEA3 Ets transcription factors ETV1, ETV4 and ETV5, which may be relieved by multisite controls of capicúa by the protein kinase Erk, p90RSK and 14-3-3 proteins. Experimental depletion of capicúa rendered cancer cells resistant to the therapeutic effects of drugs that block signaling upstream of Erk. As well as its implications for cancer and cancer therapy, the study also suggest capicúa as a nexus that interconnects the signaling networks of growth factor signaling, spinocerebellar ataxias and certain cancers.