NATURE AND THE NATURE RESEARCH JOURNALS PRESS RELEASE
For papers that will be published online on 14 August 2005
* A rewarding view on orexin cells - Nature
* Nanotubes: the logical choice for 'next-generation' electronics? - Nature Materials
* Seeing cathepsin - Nature Chemical Biology
* Study of lymph vessels makes a leap - Nature Medicine
* Antibiotic assembly line - Nature Biotechnoloy
* Neurons that know the odds - Nature Neuroscience
* Passport for emigrating immune cells - Nature Immunology
********************NATURE***********************************
(<http://www.nature.com/nature>)
[1] A rewarding view on orexin cells
Previous studies have implicated a part of the brain known as the lateral
hypothalamus in reward and motivation. But the cells and neurotransmitters
involved in these behaviours remained unknown. Now, a team led by Glenda
Harris show that activation of neurons that contain the neurotransmitter
orexin in this brain region is proportionally linked to food- and
drug-seeking behaviours in rats. The findings appear in an Advanced Online
Publication from Nature. Orexin neurons have already been shown to have a
role in sleep and arousal.
Harris and her colleagues have also demonstrated that blocking the
orexin neurotransmitter itself abolishes the rats' addictive tendencies.
Finally, they show that a relapse of drug-seeking behaviour can be induced
by direct injection of this neurotransmitter into a major reward centre of
the brain to which cells of the lateral hypothalamus project, known as the
ventral tegmental area. The authors believe that the results suggest a
potential new target for addiction treatments.
Author contact:
Glenda Harris (University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA)
Tel: +1 215 573 5200, E-mail: [email protected]
***********************NATURE MATERIALS*************************
(<http://www.nature.com/naturematerials>)
[2] Nanotubes: the logical choice for 'next-generation' electronics?
DOI: 10.1038/nmat1450
Fabrication of the first electrical switching and logic devices made
entirely from carbon nanotubes is reported in the September issue of Nature
Materials. The work, by Prabhakar Bandaru and colleagues, is the first
demonstration that nanoelectronic devices can be made without requiring the
use of metal gates to control charge flow.
The switches and logic devices are based on Y-junction carbon nanotubes,
which have two branches that meet a central stem at a junction (see Fig.1*).
By monitoring the current flow through the branches while a direct-current
voltage is applied to the central stem, the researchers observe on-off
switching behaviour once the voltage applied to the stem reaches a threshold
level.
The central stem acts like a metal gate in a conventional field-effect
transistor, opening up the possibility of constructing complex device
circuitry - such as inverters and logic gates - entirely from nanotubes.
Although the details of the switching process are not yet understood, a new
class of nanocircuits assembled from the bottom up with functionalities that
extend well beyond today's field-effect transistor device architecture is
now possible.
**The Figure 1 referred to in this text is Figure 1b from the Bandaru
paper**
Author contact:
Prabhakar Bandaru (UC, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA)
Tel: +1 858 534 5325, E-mail: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Materials to be published online at the same time
and with the same embargo:
[3] Three-dimensionality of field-induced magnetism in a high-temperature
superconductor
DOI: 10.1038/nmat1452
[4] Engineering metal-impurity nanodefects for low-cost solar cells
DOI: 10.1038/nmat1457
***************NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY**************************
(<http://www.nature.com/nchembio>)
[5] Seeing cathepsin
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio728
Cathepsins are cysteine proteases involved in a number of stages of tumor
development. In the September issue of Nature Chemical Biology, cathepsin
activity is visualized in a cellular model of a tumor microenvironment. As a
cellular safeguard, proteases are often generated in an inactive form and
then processed to the active form only when the protein cutting activity is
needed. Although there are many ways for detecting proteases, small
molecules called "activity-based probes" that only react with active enzymes
offer an important method for monitoring active proteases. Until now, using
these probes for in vivo imaging has been difficult.
Matthew Bogyo and colleagues report a new method of fluorescence
labeling of active proteases using activity-based probes. The authors
chemically synthesized a molecule in which the fluorescence generated by one
part of the molecule is "quenched"-or turned off-by another part of the
molecule. When the probe reacts with an active protease, the quenching part
of the molecule breaks off and a fluorescent signal can be seen. These
probes were effective in imaging cathepsin in living cells.
The probes may prove useful for monitoring cathepsin activity in
live mice, and the design of similar quenched probes targeting other
proteases will provide important tools for investigating proteolytic
function in vivo.
Author contact:
Matthew Bogyo (Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA)
Tel: +1 650 725 4132; E-mail: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Chemical Biology to be published online at the same
time and with the same embargo:
[6] Cytochrome c acts as a cardiolipin oxygenase required for release of
proapoptotic factors
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio727
*********************NATURE MEDICINE***************************
(<http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine>)
[7] Study of lymph vessels makes a leap
DOI: 10.1038/nm1285
Studying the formation of lymph vessels-which are involved in disorders
ranging from inflammation to cancer-has been hindered by the lack of a model
that could be genetically manipulated. In the September issue of Nature
Medicine, Annelii Ny and colleagues present tadpoles of the African clawed
frog Xenopus laevis as a model for investigating the development of lymph
vessels.
The researchers subjected tadpoles to lymphangiography, a radiographic
technique for examining anatomy, and found that lymph vessels form via two
different pathways-one pathway shared by mammals and the other shared by
birds. They also studied the effects of genetically modifying the
expression of two proteins that mediate the development of lymph vessels.
Based on their results, the researchers suggest that the X. laevis tadpoles
could be used for detailed anatomical investigation and the roles of lymph
vessels in disease.
Author contact:
Peter Carmeliet (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium)
Tel: +32 1634 5774, Email: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Medicine to be published online at the same time
and with the same embargo:
[8] Role of the MEOX2 homeobox gene in neurovascular dysfunction in
Alzheimer disease
DOI: 10.1038/nm1287
[9] An astrocytic basis of epilepsy
DOI: 10.1038/nm1277
**************NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY************************
(http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnolgy)
[10] Antibiotic assembly line
DOI: 10.1038/nbt1128
Scientists have turned bacteria into miniature factories for producing novel
types of antimicrobial compounds at unprecedented rates, as reported in the
September issue of Nature Biotechnology. The ability to rapidly synthesize
and identify new antibiotics is particularly important given the emergence
of drug-resistant pathogens.
Polyketides, a promising group of chemical compounds with antibacterial,
immunosuppressant, antiparasitic and anticancer activity, are naturally
synthesized in streptomycete bacteria by large, complex enzymes that
function as molecular assembly lines of two-carbon building blocks.
Theoretically a simple proposition, the rapid and systematic generation of
new types of polyketide-synthesizing enzymes through genetic engineering has
until now eluded researchers owing to the inherent complexities of
manipulating large stretches of 'functional' DNA sequences from different
streptomycete bacteria.
Now, by combining DNA sequences encoding subunits of a particular
antibiotic-manufacturing enzyme complex from different microorganisms and
expressing them in a single bacterium, Daniel Santi and colleagues were able
to 'mix and match' chemical building blocks. These chemical building blocks,
which are fused together to make polyketide antibiotics such as erythromycin
and amphotericin, are freely combined by the hybrid enzyme complexes to make
a diverse range of new compounds with potential antibiotic activity. The
ability to rapidly generate these compounds may provide new leads for
antibiotics to combat strains of bacteria resistant to current drugs.
Author Contact:
Daniel V. Santi (KOSAN Biosciences, Inc., Hayward, CA, USA)
Tel: +1 510 731 5204, E-mail: [email protected]
******************NATURE NEUROSCIENCE*************************
(<http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience>)
[11] Neurons that know the odds
DOI: 10.1038/nn1523
Making the right choices in the face of uncertain outcomes is a critical
skill in life, but to do that, the brain must have a way to evaluate the
risks. Neurons in a part of the brain called the posterior cingulate cortex
represent the riskiness of choices in monkeys, reports a paper in the
September issue of Nature Neuroscience.
Faced with a choice between a reward that was guaranteed and an
uncertain reward (a 50:50 chance of a reward that was smaller or larger than
the guaranteed one), monkeys in this study typically chose to gamble.
Indeed, the more risky the experimenters made the reward, the more likely
the monkeys were to choose it, even when the probability of obtaining a
larger reward from the risky target was reduced so that the risky choice led
to a smaller average reward. During the task, the authors recorded from
neurons in the posterior cingulate cortex, and found that many of them
responded more strongly to riskier targets. The authors suggest that these
neurons may represent the subjective value of the choice to the monkey,
rather than the absolute value of the reward.
Author contact:
Michael Platt (Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA)
Tel: +1 919 668 0333; E-mail: [email protected]
Additional contact for comment on paper:
Daeyeol Lee (University of Rochester, NY, USA)
Tel: +1 585 275 8677; E-mail: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Neuroscience to be published online at the same
time and with the same embargo:
[12] Ryk-mediated Wnt repulsion regulates posterior-directed growth of
corticospinal tract
DOI: 10.1038/nn1520
[13] Nonsynaptic GABA signaling in postnatal subventricular zone controls
proliferation of GFAP-expressing progenitors
DOI: 10.1038/nn1522
[14] Millisecond-timescale, genetically targeted optical control of neural
activity
DOI: 10.1038/nn1525
[15] Heterogeneity in synaptic transmission along a Drosophila larval motor
axon
DOI: 10.1038/nn1526
**********************NATURE IMMUNOLOGY**********************
(<http://www.nature.com/natureimmunology>)
[16] & [17] Passport for emigrating immune cells
[16] DOI: 10.1038/ni1238 &
[17] DOI: 10.1038/ni1240
Immune cells such as lymphocytes constantly traverse throughout the body in
search of infection. Two reports in the September issue of Nature Immunology
suggest exit of immune cells from peripheral tissues does not passively
occur but requires the expression of a specialized receptor called CCR7.
Earlier work revealed lymphocytes exit the bloodstream to percolate through
the tissues, such as the lung or skin, and then return to the bloodstream
via an indirect route. These traveling cells re-enter the blood through
lymphatic vessels that channel cells and excess fluids towards regional
lymph nodes. Cells can then exit lymph nodes to re-enter blood. This process
was thought to occur passively by hydrodynamic pressure differences between
tissues and lymph fluid.
Now, Butcher and colleagues show lymphocyte tissue exit is not random. They
noticed increased numbers of T lymphocytes that expressed the chemokine
receptor CCR7 in lymph fluid, whereas cells that did not express CCR7 were
retained in the tissues. This finding suggested some selective process was
at work. Lymphocytes from CCR7 mutant mice failed to enter lymphatic vessels
and instead accumulated in tissues. Independently, Luster and colleagues
also found CCR7 was required for lymphocyte exit from lungs in a mouse model
of asthma. Accordingly, CCR7 is the ticket for lymphocytes making their way
out of tissues. Immune modulators that communicate through CCR7 could
therefore potentially be used to alter the course of local inflammatory
reactions where lymphocytes accumulate.
Author contacts:
Andrew D Luster (Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital,
Charlestown, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 617 726 5710, E-mail: [email protected]
Eugene C Butcher (Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA)
Tel: +1 650 852 3369, E-mail: [email protected]
Additional comment on papers:
Sergio A Lira (Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA)
Tel: +1 212 659 9404, E-mail: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Immunology to be published online at the same time
and with the same embargo:
[18] Sustained localized expression of ligand for the activating NKG2D
receptor impairs natural cytotoxicity in vivo and impedes tumor
immunosurveillance
DOI: 10.1038/ni1239
****************************************************************************
Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and
with the same embargo:
NATURE GENETICS (<http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics>)
[19] The t complex-encoded GTPase-activating protein Tagap1 acts as a
transmission ratio distorter in mice
DOI: 10.1038/ng1617
[20] Protein accumulation and neurodegeneration in the woozy mutant mouse is
caused by disruption of SIL1, a cochaperone of BiP
DOI: 10.1038/ng1620
[21] Regulation of polarized extension and planar cell polarity in the
cochlea by the vertebrate PCP pathway
DOI: 10.1038/ng1622
[22] Mutations in genes in the renin-angiotensin system are associated with
autosomal recessive renal tubular dysgenesis
DOI: 10.1038/ng1623
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY (<http://www.nature.com/naturecellbiology>)
[23] Load-dependent kinetics of myosin-V can explain its high processivity
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1287
[24] Protein kinase D regulates vesicular transport by phosphorylating and
activating phosphatidylinositol-4 kinase IIIbeta at the Golgi complex
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1289
Nature STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(<http://www.nature.com/natstructmolbiol>)
[25] Organization of the archaeal MCM complex on DNA and implications for
the helicase mechanism
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb974
[26] The tail structure of bacteriophage T4 and its mechanism of contraction
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb975
****************************************************************************
GEOGRAPHICAL LISTING OF AUTHORS
The following list of places refers to the whereabouts of authors on the
papers numbered in this release. The listing may be for an author's main
affiliation, or for a place where they are working temporarily. Please see
the PDF of the paper for full details.
BELGIUM
Ghent: 7
Leuven: 7
CANADA
Toronto: 16
DENMARK
Roskilde: 3
FRANCE
Antony: 22
Dijon: 22
Lyon: 22
Nantes: 22
Paris: 22
Poissy: 22
Toulouse: 22
Vandouvres les Nancy: 22
GERMANY
Berlin: 3, 16, 19
Frankfurt: 14
Freiburg: 19
Kiel: 16
Martinsried: 15
Wuerzburg: 14
Stuttgart: 24
JAPAN
Tokyo: 3
Wako: 3
Yokohama: 26
RUSSIA
Moscow: 6, 26
SLOVENIA
Ljubljana: 5
SWITZERLAND
Villigen: 3
Zurich: 7, 22
TUNISIA
Sfax: 22
UNITED KINGDOM
Oxford: 3
Didcot: 3
Colchester: 6
Norwich: 10
Cambridge: 25
London: 3, 18, 23
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
California
Berkeley: 4, 15
Hayward: 10
La Jolla: 1, 21
Los Angeles: 8, 21
Palo Alto: 16
Riverside: 8
South San Francisco: 15
Stanford: 5, 14, 16
Connecticut
New Haven: 13, 18
District of Columbia
Washington: 13
Georgia
Atlanta: 21
Illinois
Argonne: 4
Chicago: 12
Indiana
West Lafayette: 26
Iowa
Ames: 3
Maine
Bar Harbor: 20
Maryland
Baltimore: 9
Bethesda: 23
Massachusetts
Boston: 7, 24
Charlestown: 17
Michigan
Detroit: 5
New Jersey
Newark: 9
New York
Rochester: 8, 9
Valhalla: 9
North Carolina
Durham: 11
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City: 7
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 1
Pittsburgh: 6
South Carolina
Clemson: 2
South Dakota
Brookings: 16
Texas
Dallas: 12
Washington
Richland: 4
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Beatrice Chrystall
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