NATURE AND THE NATURE RESEARCH JOURNALS PRESS RELEASE
For papers that will be published online on 28 October 2007
This press release is copyrighted to the Nature journals mentioned below.
This press release contains:
· Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Imaging: Clear crystal vision - Nature
Phosphorylation on demand – Nature Chemical Biology
Long live transplants! – Nature Medicine
Responding to sepsis – Nature Immunology
· 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************************************************
(http://www.nature.com/nature)
[1] Imaging: Clear crystal vision
DOI: 10.1038/nature06352
The combined power of two techniques that probe matter at the atomic scale provides information about the structure and chemical composition of a crystal at an unprecedented level of detail, say researchers in Nature this week. Characterizing microstructures is important in various fields of science and technology. Semiconductor devices, for example, consist of nanometre-sized components, and the performance of the devices depends on the atomic microstructure.
Koji Kimoto and co-workers combine two current microscopy methods — scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) — having solved a number of technical problems, such as maintaining sufficient stability during measurements. This achievement allows them to continuously scan over a crystal surface, while taking spectroscopy measurements at each point. This results in two-dimensional maps of the positions of atoms of three different elements in various layers at and below the surface.
CONTACT
Koji KIMOTO (National Institute for Materials Science, Ibraki, Japan)
Tel: +81 29 860 4402; E-mail: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
[2] Human CtIP promotes DNA end resection
DOI: 10.1038/nature06377
*************************************NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY ***********************************
(http://www.nature.com/nchembio)
[3] Phosphorylation on demand
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.2007.44
A new chemical biology tool that explores protein modifications is presented in a paper online this week in Nature Chemical Biology. These results will provide the framework for determining the biological function of many important biochemical signals.
Proteins are frequently encoded with special amino acid tags to send them to different parts of the cell; alternatively, proteins can be modified with a variety of small chemical compounds that cause them to move within the cell.
Peter G. Schultz and colleagues now study this process in the case of the protein Pho4 by introducing an unusual amino acid to the protein chain inside the cell. This amino acid looks like serine – one of the amino acids that is used to make proteins – except it is blocked by a bulky group that can be removed with light. Once exposed, the serine can be phosphorylated, or modified by the addition of a phosphate group, by a normal cellular process. The authors discovered that, out of five important serines in the protein sequence, one has particular importance in controlling whether the protein is sent out of the nucleus or not. This technique offers a powerful new method for monitoring the function of phosphorylation.
Author contact:
Peter G. Schultz (The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA)
Tel: +1 858 784 9300, Email: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Chemical Biology to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
[4] Dissecting metal ion–dependent folding and catalysis of a single DNAzyme
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.2007.45
*******************************************Nature MEDICINE********************************************
(http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine)
[5] Long live transplants!
DOI: 10.1038/nm1673
A new strategy to improve transplant survival in diabetic patients is presented online this week in Nature Medicine.
In some individuals, Type 1 diabetes can be treated by transplanting pancreatic islets, but long-term survival of the transplants has been difficult to achieve. Islet grafts are rejected by the immune system, and efforts to increase their survival are usually aimed at dampening immune T-cell function.
Because B cells—another type of immune cell—may also play a role in graft rejection, Ali Naji and colleagues tested the effect of depleting B cells in monkeys transplanted with islet allografts. The authors found that rituximab, a B-cell depleting antibody approved for the treatment of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis, in combination with T-cell depleting therapy could extend survival of the grafts in some animals.
Long-term graft survival also normalized blood sugar levels, suggesting that B-cell depletion should be studied further for its potential benefit to therapies aimed at improving survival of islet transplants used to treat Type 1 diabetes.
Author contact:
Ali Naji (University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA)
Tel: +1 215 662 2066; E-mail: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Medicine to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
[6] Detecting tumor response to treatment using hyperpolarized 13C magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy
DOI: 10.1038/nm1650
[7] A critical developmental switch defines the kinetics of kidney cyst formation after loss of Pkd1.
DOI: 10.1038/nm1675
*******************************************NATURE IMMUNOLOGY ************************************
(http://www.nature.com/natureimmunology)
[8] Responding to sepsis
DOI: 10.1038/ni1525
How quickly key receptors are activated on blood vessel cells can determine whether one survives or succumbs to sepsis, suggests a report online in this week’s Nature Immunology.
Sepsis, a potentially life-threatening immune response to blood-borne infections, leads to loss of blood vessel function, resulting in shock and multiorgan failure. Athan Kuliopulos and colleagues looked to see if inhibition or activation of a receptor called PAR1 could limit the severity of sepsis. Mice injected with bacteria directly into the bloodstream developed sepsis and died; however, these mice were protected if given a PAR1 inhibitor within 4 hours.
The surprise came if PAR1 was inhibited at later times, as this failed to protect these mice; rather, activation of PAR1 at these later times ‘protected’ mice from toxic shock. The authors show this ‘late’ activation of PAR1 induces another PAR receptor to become activated. This establishes a protective effect by instructing cells lining the blood vessel to maintain tight junctions and averting the widespread edema and intravascular blood clotting that accompanies shock.
These findings might lead to successful therapies for patients with sepsis and other systemic inflammatory responses.
Author contact:
Athan Kuliopulos (Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 617 636 8482; E-mail: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Immunology to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
[9] Natural killer cell trafficking in vivo requires a dedicated sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor
DOI: 10.1038/ni1523
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Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
Nature PHYSICS (http://www.nature.com/naturephysics)
[10] Surface heating of wire plasmas using laser-irradiated cone geometries
DOI: 10.1038/nphys755
[11] Generation of intense continuum extreme-ultraviolet radiation by many-cycle laser fields
DOI: 10.1038/nphys747
[12] Quasiparticle interference and superconducting gap in Ca2−xNaxCuO2Cl2
DOI: 10.1038/nphys753
[13] Collimation of sound assisted by acoustic surface waves
DOI: 10.1038/nphys774
NATURE MATERIALS (http://www.nature.com/naturematerials)
[14] Complete composition tunability of InGaN nanowires using a combinatorial approach
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2037
[15] Using polymeric materials to generate an amplified response to molecular recognition events
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2042
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nnano)
[16] Sequence-specific detection of individual DNA polymerase complexes in real time using a nanopore
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2007.344
[17] Local ionic and electron heating in single-molecule junctions
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2007.345
[18] Nano-architectures by covalent assembly of molecular building blocks (N&V)
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2007.346
[19] Direct imaging of single-walled carbon nanotubes in cells
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2007.347
Nature BIOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnology)
[20] Gene editing in human stem cells using zinc finger nucleases and integrase-defective lentiviral vector delivery
DOI: 10.1038/nbt1353
[21] Complete genome sequence of the myxobacterium Sorangium cellulosum
DOI: 10.1038/nbt1354
NATURE GENETICS (http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics)
[22] Light-quality regulation of freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana
DOI: 10.1038/ng.2007.3
[23] Recurrent DNA copy number variation in the laboratory mouse
DOI: 10.1038/ng.2007.19
Nature NEUROSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience)
[24] Psychophysically measured task strategy for disparity discrimination is reflected in V2 neurons
DOI: 10.1038/nn1991
[25] RGS2 modulates coupling between GABAB receptors and GIRK channels in dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area
DOI: 10.1038/nn2006
[26] Function of the Drosophila CPEB protein Orb2 in long-term courtship memory
DOI: 10.1038/nn1996
Nature STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natstructmolbiol)
[27] Autonomous synchronization of the circadian KaiC phosphorylation rhythm
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1312
[28] The nucleosome surface regulates chromatin compaction and couples it with transcriptional repression
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1323
[29] A charged and contoured surface on the nucleosome regulates chromatin compaction
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1334
NATURE METHODS (http://www.nature.com/nmeth)
[30] Two-photon photostimulation and imaging of neural circuits
DOI: 10.1038/ nmeth1105
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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.
AUSTRALIA
Canberra: 28
AUSTRIA
Vienna: 26
CANADA:
Montreal: 20
Sherbrook: 12
DENMARK
Copenhagen: 2, 21
FRANCE
Lyon: 9
Marseille: 9
Nantes : 9
GERMANY
Berlin: 18
Bielefeld: 21
Garching: 11
Julich: 21
Saarbrucken: 21
Tubingen: 21
GREECE
Heraklion: 11
ITALY
Cremona: 20
Emillia: 20
Milan: 20
JAPAN
Fukuoka:
Gunma: 25
Hyogo: 27
Ibaraki: 1,.12
Kashiwa: 12
Kawagachi: 12
Osaka: 10
Nagoya: 27
Saitama: 1, 25
Sapporo: 25
Tokyo: 27
Uji: 12
Wako: 12
SPAIN
Albacete: 25
Granada: 21
Madrid: 13
Zaragoza: 13
SWEDEN
Malmo: 6
SWITZERLAND
Geneva: 25
UNITED KINGDOM
Amersham: 6
Cambridge: 2, 6, 19
Chilton: 10
Daresbury: 19
Harlow: 9
Leicester: 22
Liverpool: 18
London: 10, 25
Warwick: 21
York: 10
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Arizona
Tempe: 17
California
Berkeley: 14
Davis: 10
La Jolla: 3, 17, 25
Livermore: 10
Richmond: 20
San Diego: 3
Santa Cruz: 16
Colorado
Boulder: 15
Denver: 15
Fort Collins: 29
Longmount: 15
Louisville: 15
Georgia
Atlanta: 4
Illinois
Urbana: 4
Indiana
Bloomington: 21
Maryland
Baltimore: 7
Bethesda: 24
Massachusetts
Boston: 8, 29
Michigan
Ann Arbor: 10
Minnesota
Minneapolis: 25
New York
New York: 2, 23, 30
Rochester: 10
Upton: 12
Ohio
Columbus: 10
Oregon
Corvallis: 21
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 5
Pittsburgh: 23
Spring House: 8
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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