NATURE AND THE NATURE RESEARCH JOURNALS PRESS RELEASE
For papers that will be published online on 23 September 2007
This press release is copyrighted to the Nature journals mentioned below.
This press release contains:
· Summaries of newsworthy papers:
In charge of biosensing – Nature Nanotechnology
Catching bird flu in a droplet – Nature Medicine
Fountain of youth – Nature Immunology
Finding co-dependent genes in fission yeast – Nature Methods
· Mention of papers to be published at the same time with the same embargo
· Geographical listing of authors
PDFs of all the papers mentioned on this release can be found in the relevant journal’s section of http://press.nature.com. Press contacts for the Nature journals are listed at the end of this release.
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PLEASE CITE THE SPECIFIC NATURE JOURNAL AND WEBSITE AS THE SOURCE OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS. IF PUBLISHING ONLINE, PLEASE CARRY A HYPERLINK TO THE APPROPRIATE JOURNAL’S WEBSITE.
**************************************NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY***********************************
[1] In charge of biosensing (N&V)
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2007.293
A scanning probe microscope capable of detecting changes in the electrical charge on a surface is described in a report online this week in Nature Nanotechnology. This technique offers a rapid and sensitive way to sense biological targets, such as DNA and proteins.
Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) is named after Lord Kelvin who investigated how charge is generated when two different materials are brought into close contact. Although KPFM is an established method that has been used to detect biomolecules in microarrays, Angela Belcher and Asher Sinensky have now applied it to measure binding events at the nanoscale. By considering much smaller feature sizes than previously studied, this development has increased both the speed and sensitivity of the technique.
The authors patterned single strands of DNA, which are negatively charged, onto gold substrates and measured their KPFM response. When complementary ‘target’ DNA strands were captured on the surface, the charge density in a given area was doubled and easily detected with KPFM. In this way, Sinensky and Belcher demonstrate the selective sensing of DNA sequences taken from the genes of anthrax and malaria.
Author contact:
Angela Belcher (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 617 252 1163; E-mail: [email protected]
Albena Ivanisevic (Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA)
Tel: +1 765 496 3676; E-mail: [email protected] N&V author
Other papers from Nature Nanotechnology to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
[2] A virus-based single-enzyme nanoreactor
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2007.299
[3] Nanopatterning the electronic properties of gold surfaces with self-organized superlattices of metallic nanostructures
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2007.301
*******************************************Nature MEDICINE********************************************
(http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine)
[4] Catching bird flu in a droplet
DOI: 10.1038/nm1634
Detecting bird flu may soon get a whole lot easier, according to a report online in Nature Medicine this week. Juergen Pipper and colleagues describe a cheap, fast and effective droplet-based system for detecting the H5N1 virus directly from a throat swab sample in less than 30 minutes. The method could also be adapted to other viruses such as SARS, AIDS and hepatitis B.
In the event of a flu epidemic, its rapid containment would depend on the prompt identification of the first cases. But as routine surveillance may be problematic in countries with limited public health resources, low-cost, easy-to-use detection assays would be are advantageous.
The new system uses droplets that contain particles to automatically isolate, purify and concentrate viral RNA. The method is as sensitive as other available tests, but over one hundred times faster and even cheaper. In addition, it may be applicable not only to the flu virus, but could be adapted to other infectious agents, and to other bodily fluids like blood, urine or saliva.
Author contact:
Juergen Pipper (Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Singapore)
Tel: +65 6824 7157; E-mail: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Medicine to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
[5] Adaptive immune cells temper initial innate responses
DOI: 10.1038/nm1633
[6] In vivo magnetic resonance imaging of acute brain inflammation using microparticles of iron oxide
DOI: 10.1038/nm1631
*******************************************NATURE IMMUNOLOGY ************************************
(http://www.nature.com/natureimmunology)
[7] Fountain of youth
DOI: 10.1038/ni1513
Researchers have identified the cells that provide an essential survival factor to newly created immune cells according a report published online in Nature Immunology this week.
White blood cells known as T lymphocytes are born in the thymus and these cells are required to fight off viral and other infections. Upon leaving the thymus these cells prowl throughout the body seeking out potential foreign agents; however, the survival of these cells depends on periodic visits to lymph nodes, where they can ‘recharge’ by receiving a chemical signal called interleukin 7 (IL-7).
It was known for many years that IL-7 provides ‘survival’ signals to these naive T cells, but what actually produced IL-7 proved elusive. Sanjiv Luther and colleagues identify specialized ‘fibroblastic reticular cells’ found in lymph nodes and spleen as the source of IL-7. These cells make chemical signals that direct T cells to them and supply the essential IL-7 that prevents T cells from dying, thereby allowing them to continue to recirculate throughout the body searching for enemies.
Author contact:
Sanjiv Luther (University of Lausanne, Epalinges, Switzerland)
Tel: +41 21 692 5678; E-mail: [email protected]
********************************************NATURE METHODS******************************************
[8] Finding co-dependent genes in fission yeast
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth1098
A method for the rapid and large-scale generation of double mutants in a popular yeast strain to determine which genes are functionally dependent on each other is published online this week in Nature Methods.
Yeast is a simple unicellular organism but it comes in many different species that are only very distantly related on an evolutionary scale. The two main species used for research are budding and fission yeast – the former being very popular with geneticists for ease of handling, the latter being of interest because it is more closely related to higher eukaryotes.
Yeast, being a single cell organism, is ideal for the screening of genes that together are essential for survival of the cell. These interaction screens are done in yeast cells with a haploid genome - consisting of only one set of chromosomes – where each cell has mutations in two genes. If the combination of the two genes is required the yeast will die. By generating all possible combinations of gene pairs, a map of genetic interaction can be drawn.
These screens are already widely used in budding yeast, but the difficulty in generating haploid double mutants in fission yeast have prevented their application in this species. Nevan Krogan and colleagues now present a strategy to target genes of interest in fission yeast and select for haploid double-mutant cells. By investigating the pairs of all genes linked to a certain biological process they can draw a comprehensive map of the genes involved in this process.
Comparing the genetic maps in both of these yeast species will shed light on biological pathways that were conserved or diverged during evolution.
Author contact:
Nevan Krogan (University of California, San Francisco)
Tel: +1 415 476 3068; E-mail: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Methods to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
[9] Low- to high-throughput analysis of telomerase modulators with Telospot
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth1099
***************************************************************************************************************
Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
Nature (http://www.nature.com/nature)
[10] Functional architecture of the retromer cargo-recognition complex
DOI: 10.1038/nature06216
[11] Protein-based peptide-bond formation by aminoacyl-tRNA protein transferase
DOI: 10.1038/nature06167
NATURE PHOTONICS (http://www.nature.com/nphton)
[12] Slow guided surface plasmons at telecom frequencies
DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2007.174
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nchembio)
[13] Chemical genetic interrogation of natural variation uncovers a molecule that is glycoactivated
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.2007.32
[14] Sortagging: a versatile method for protein labeling
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.2007.31
Nature PHYSICS (http://www.nature.com/naturephysics)
[15] Impurity-stabilized solid 4He below the solidification pressure of pure helium
DOI: 10.1038/nphys727
[16] Single-photon bus connecting spin-wave quantum memories
DOI: 10.1038/nphys726
[17] Is the outer Solar System chaotic?
DOI: 10.1038/nphys728
NATURE MATERIALS (http://www.nature.com/naturematerials)
[18] Intrinsic ripples in graphene
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2011
[19] The control of human mesenchymal cell differentiation using nanoscale symmetry and disorder
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2013
Nature BIOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnology)
[20] Computational design of antibody-affinity improvement beyond in vivo maturation
DOI: 10.1038/nbt1336
[21] Renal clearance of quantum dots
DOI: 10.1038/nbt1340
NATURE GENETICS (http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics)
[22] The role of site accessibility in microRNA target recognition
DOI: 10.1038/ng2135
[23] The imprinted gene Magel2 regulates normal circadian output
DOI: 10.1038/ng2114
Nature NEUROSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience)
[24] Epidermal growth factor signaling induces behavioral quiescence in C. elegans
DOI: 10.1038/nn1981
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturecellbiology)
[25] Nucleolar release of Hand1 acts as a molecular switch to determine cell fate
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1633
[26] Bif-1 interacts with Beclin 1 through UVRAG and regulates autophagy and tumorigenesis
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1634
[27] Inhibition of Crm1–p53 interaction and nuclear export of p53 by poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1638
[28] Prometaphase APCcdh1 activity prevents non-disjunction in mammalian oocytes
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1640
[29] Akt phosphorylation regulates the tumour-suppressor merlin through ubiquitination and degradation
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1641
[30] Protein arginine-methyltransferase-dependent oncogenesis
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1642
Nature STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natstructmolbiol)
[31] Myosin-V makes two Brownian 90° rotations per 36-nm step
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1298
[32] A conserved motif in Argonaute-interacting proteins mediates functional interactions through the Argonaute PIWI domain
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1302
[33] Synaptotagmin activates membrane fusion through a Ca2+-dependent trans interaction with phospholipids
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1305
[34] Structural features of small RNA precursors determine Argonaute loading in Caenorhabditis elegans
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1308
***************************************************************************************************************
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.
CANADA
Alberta: 23
Toronto: 13, 25
CHINA
Beijing: 5
Hong Kong: 30
CZECH REPUBLIC
Prague: 4
FRANCE
Lyon: 9
Montepellier: 10
Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy: 3
GERMANY
Goettingen: 33
Heidelberg: 32
ISRAEL
Rehovot: 22
JAPAN
Chiba: 11
Ibaraki: 11, 27
Osaka: 31
Shiga: 27
Tokyo: 11, 31
NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam: 12
Eindhoven: 2
Nijmegen: 2, 18
The Hague: 34
Utrecht: 34
Wageningen: 2
SINGAPORE
Singapore: 4, 23
SWEDEN
Huddinge: 8
SWITZERLAND
Basel: 32
Epalinges: 7, 9
Fribourg: 15
Geneva: 9
Lausanne: 9, 15
Zurich: 32
UNITED KINGDOM
Belfast: 30
Glasgow: 19
London: 30
Newcastle: 28
Oxford: 6
Southampton: 19
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
California
Irvine: 17
La Jolla: 23
Pasadena: 24
Riverside: 13
San Francisco: 7, 8
Stanford: 30
Florida
Tampa: 26, 27
Georgia
Atlanta: 29
Illinois
Chicago: 5
Louisiana
New Orleans: 27
Maryland
Baltimore: 4
Bethesda: 10
Frederick: 23
Massachusetts
Boston: 21
Cambridge: 1, 14, 16, 20, 21
Missouri
St Louis: 23, 29
New York
New York: 22
PRESS CONTACTS…
For media inquiries relating to embargo policy for all the Nature Research Journals:
Katherine Anderson (Nature London)
Tel: +44 20 7843 4502; E-mail: [email protected]
Ruth Francis (Senior Press Officer, Nature, London)
Tel: +44 20 7843 4562; E-mail: [email protected]
For media inquiries relating to editorial content/policy for the Nature Research Journals, please contact the journals individually:
Nature Biotechnology (New York)
Peter Hare
Tel: +1 212 726 9284; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Cell Biology (London)
Bernd Pulverer
Tel: +44 20 7843 4892; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Chemical Biology (Boston)
Andrea Garvey
Tel: +1 617 475 9241, E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Genetics (New York)
Orli Bahcall
Tel: +1 212 726 9311; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Immunology (New York)
Laurie Dempsey
Tel: +1 212 726 9372; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Materials (London)
Fabio Pulizzi
Tel: +44 20 7014 4024; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Medicine (New York)
Juan Carlos Lopez
Tel: +1 212 726 9325; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Methods (New York)
Allison Doerr
Tel: +1 212 726 9393; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Nanotechnology (London)
Peter Rodgers
Tel: +44 20 7014 4019; Email: [email protected]
Nature Neuroscience (New York)
Sandra Aamodt (based in California)
Tel: +1 530 795 3256; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Photonics (Tokyo))
Oliver Graydon
Tel: +81 3 3267 8776; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Physics (London)
Alison Wright
Tel: +44 20 7843 4555; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (New York)
Michelle Montoya
Tel: +1 212 726 9326; E-mail: [email protected]
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