NATURE RESEARCH JOURNALS PRESS RELEASE
For papers published online on 2 October 2005
* Scent of a sea lamprey - Nature Chemical Biology
* Development of immune cells associated with allergy and asthma - Nature Immunology
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********************NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY***************************
(http://www.nature.com/nchembio)
[1] Scent of a sea lamprey
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio739
The chemical composition of a pheromone of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon
marinus) - a parasitic fish that invaded the Great Lakes of North America in
the early 20th century, is reported in the November issue of Nature Chemical
Biology. The authors discovered that the pheromone attracts adult sea
lampreys to spawning sites. Identifying the pheromone mixture offers an
important, environmentally friendly new lead in developing means to control
marauding sea lamprey populations.
Sea lampreys are ancient, leech-like fish that survive by attaching to and
sucking out the bodily juices from larger fish. Since establishing a
presence in the Great Lakes, they have devastated the fishing industry by
preying on commercially important fish species. Researchers have searched
for small molecules involved in the mating and migratory habits of the sea
lamprey, in order to apply these molecules as potential control agents for
these parasitic organisms.
After a 15-year hunt, Sorensen, Hoye and coworkers report the identification
of a mixture of steroid-like compounds that are secreted by lamprey larvae
and attract adult fish to suitable spawning areas. By concentrating
thousands of liters of water containing the larvae, the team separated the
secreted molecules into different mixtures and tested them for their ability
to direct the swimming of adult sea lampreys. The team found that the sea
lamprey pheromone is comprised of three molecules and andin the right
conditions, they serve as a potent signal to direct migrating adult sea
lampreys to appropriate spawning sites.
The identification of this class of sea lamprey pheromones uncovers
previously unknown chemical structures and also provides new chemical
inspiration for ways to manage the ecological problem created by the
invading sea lamprey.
Author contact:
Peter W. Sorensen (University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA)
Tel: +1 612 624 4997, E-mail: [email protected]
Thomas R. Hoye (University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA)
Tel: +1 612 625 1891, E-mail: [email protected]
Additional contact for comment on paper:
Andrew Dittman (Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration - NOAA, Seattle, WA, USA)
Tel: +1 206 860 3392, E-mail: [email protected]
PLEASE NOTE - there are additional resources for this paper on the relevant
section of the Nature press site. They include a press release from the
University of Minnesota, a related fact sheet and images. The images are
all JPEG's at 15cm wide, 300 dpi and so should be suitable for print. If
you require larger images please contact [email protected]
**********************NATURE IMMUNOLOGY*****************************
(<http://www.nature.com/natureimmunology>)
[2] & [3] Development of immune cells associated with allergy and asthma
[2] DOI: 10.1038/ni1254 &
[3] DOI: 10.1038/ni1261
Arthritis and allergy are 'two sides of the same coin' as immune responses.
Both are caused by overproduction of otherwise important immune molecules.
Two papers in the November issue of Nature Immunology describe how one type
of immune cell associated with allergic inflammation and autoimmunity
ultimately causes disease. This new work clarifies how such cells develop,
which may help bring treatment for inflammatory diseases such as asthma and
allergy.
CD4 lymphocytes (or 'T helper' cells) are immune 'helper' cells that were
formerly thought to function in one of two ways during immune responses.
Now, work from the laboratories of Casey Weaver and Chen Dong describe how a
novel third type of T helper cell develops. Molecules such as antiviral
interferon-gamma (IFN-g) and allergy-associated interleukin 4 (IL-4) are
well known to be produced by distinct 'lineages' of T helper cells, whereas
distinct molecules have been linked to some T helper cells found in people
with autoimmunity. Both Weaver and Dong demonstrate that CD4 T cells can be
become producers of interleukin 17 (IL-17), a powerful chemical that
stimulates inflammation and has been linked to autoimmunity and allergy.
IL-17 is triggered by a unique set of signals that defines this new
'lineage' of CD4 T cells.
This new information may allow treatments for people before they develop
symptoms of allergy and autoimmunity instead of only after symptoms occur,
which is the basis of the present, less effective treatment.
Author contact:
Casey Weaver (University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL, USA) (paper no: [2])
Tel: +1 205 975 5537, E-mail: [email protected]
Chen Dong (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA)
(paper no: [3])
Tel: +1 713 563 3203, E-mail: [email protected]
Additional contact for comments on paper:
Thomas A. Wynn (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA)
Tel: +1 301 496 4758, E-mail: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Immunology to be published online at the same time
and with the same embargo:
[4] Maintenance of B cell anergy requires constant antigen receptor
occupancy and signaling
DOI: 10.1038/ni1256
[5] The initiation of antigen-induced B cell antigen receptor signaling
viewed in living cells by fluorescence resonance energy transfer
DOI: 10.1038/ni1262
****************************************************************************
Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and
with the same embargo:
Nature MEDICINE (<http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine>)
[6] Mucolipidosis II is caused by mutations in GNPTA encoding the alpha/beta
GlcNAc-1-phosphotransferase
DOI: 10.1038/nm1305
[7] Dysregulation of bacterial proteolytic machinery by a new class of
antibiotics
DOI: 10.1038/nm1306
Nature BIOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnolgy)
[8] Target discovery in small-molecule cell-based screens by in situ
proteome reactivity profiling
DOI: 10.1038/nbt1149
NATURE GENETICS (<http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics>)
[9] Second-generation shRNA libraries covering the mouse and human genomes
DOI: 10.1038/ng1650
[10] Probing tumor phenotypes using stable and regulated synthetic microRNA
precursors
DOI: 10.1038/ng1651
[11] Integrating genotypic and expression data in a segregating mouse
population to identify 5- lipoxygenase as a susceptibility gene for obesity
and bone traits
DOI: 10.1038/ng1619
[12] A mutation in stratifin is responsible for the repeated epilation (Er)
phenotype in mice
DOI: 10.1038/ng1652
Nature NEUROSCIENCE (<http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience>)
[13] The cerebellum communicates with the basal ganglia
DOI: 10.1038/nn1544
[14] A hybrid approach to measuring electrical activity in genetically
specified neurons
DOI: 10.1038/nn1558
[15] Shift of activity from attention to motor-related brain visual learning
DOI: 10.1038/nn1552
[16] The transmembrane semaphorin Sema6A controls cerebellar granule cell
migration
DOI: 10.1038/nn1555
Nature STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(<http://www.nature.com/natstructmolbiol>)
[17] AlkB reverses etheno DNA lesions caused by lipid oxidation in vitro and
in vivo
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb996
****************************************************************************
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.
FRANCE
Marseille: 6
Paris: 13, 16
GERMANY
Berlin: 7
Bonn: 7
Goettingen: 6
Griefswald: 7
Hamburg: 6
Leipzig: 15
Magdeburg: 15
Wuppertal: 7
IRELAND
Dublin: 16
ISRAEL
Jerusalem: 6
ITALY
Turin: 7
JAPAN
Nagoya: 16
Tokyo: 13
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Alabama
Birmingham: 2
California
La Jolla: 8
Los Angeles: 11, 14
Colorado
Denver: 4
Indiana
Indianapolis: 4
Maryland
Baltimore: 3
Rockville: 5, 12
Massachusetts
Boston: 9, 12
Cambridge: 17
Michigan
Ann Arbor: 7
Minnesota
St. Paul: 1
Missouri
St. Louis: 2
New Jersey
Princeton: 8
New York
Albany: 12
Cold Spring Harbor: 9, 10
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 12
Pittsburgh: 13
Texas
Houston: 3
Washington
Seattle: 3, 9, 11
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Bernd Pulverer
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Beatrice Chrystall
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Orli Bahcall
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Nature Immunology (New York)
Laurie Dempsey
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Nature Materials (London)
Maria Bellantone
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Nature Medicine (New York)
Juan Carlos Lopez
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