WWW.NATURE.COM/NATURE
VOL.450 NO.7170 DATED 29 NOVEMBER 2007
This press release is copyright Nature.
This press release contains:
· Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Venus Express: Long-lost twin **Press Briefing**
Malaria: Molecular insight into clinical severity
Metabolism: New compounds offer promise for diabetes treatment
Cell biology: Architecture of the cell
Genomics: Rearranging genomes
Materials: Keeping an eye on guest behaviour
And finally... A new role for p53
· Mention of papers to be published at the same time with the same embargo
· Geographical listing of authors
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[1] - [9] Venus Express: Long-lost twin (pp 629-662; N&V)
Venus is more Earth-like than previously thought, despite the extreme differences in climate between the two planets. In a series of papers in this week’s Nature, scientists present observations from the first year of the European Space Agency’s Venus Express mission. The results reveal how Earth’s twin evolved to form the extreme atmospheric and surface conditions seen today. In their mission overview, Håkan Svedhem and colleagues discuss the findings in context, and conclude that the processes observed on Venus could help to explain how the evolutionary paths of the two planets diverged so dramatically.
Launched in November 2005, Venus Express is the first mission in 25 years to be dedicated to atmospheric and plasma investigations of the planet. Two papers investigate the atmosphere’s interaction with the surrounding space environment. S. Barabash and colleagues observe how particles escape from the atmosphere. The dominant escaping ions are oxygen, helium and hydrogen, which may help to explain how Venus lost its original water to space. Venus has no internal magnetic field, so the solar wind - a stream of charged particles from the Sun - might be expected to interact directly with the atmosphere. A team led by T. Zhang and colleagues instead find that the solar wind is completely deflected, even during periods of minimum solar activity, with little of the solar wind entering the atmosphere. C. T. Russell and colleagues present in an additional paper the first definitive evidence of lightning occurring on Venus, confirmed from the presence of electromagnetic waves travelling in the ionosphere - the outermost part of the atmosphere.
Two studies look in more detail at the polar regions of the planet. Previous observations revealed a vast rotating vortex of clouds with a ‘double-eye’ at the north pole. G. Piccioni and colleagues present evidence for similar features at the south pole, but rotating slightly faster. These features are reminiscent of winter hemisphere atmospheric circulation on Earth. W. J. Markiewicz and co-workers investigate the dynamics of the upper cloud layers in detail and found that the southern polar region is highly variable, with conditions changing dramatically, perhaps owing to the introduction of sulphur dioxide from below.
Finally, P. Drossart and colleagues report the day- and night-time emission peaks of the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in Venus’s upper atmosphere - the region of transition between the deeper atmosphere and space. And Jean-Loup Bertaux and colleagues present unexpected evidence of a warm layer in the upper atmosphere, 90-120 kilometres from the surface on the planet’s night side, a region previously thought to be so cold it was named the ‘cryosphere’. M. Pätzold and colleagues present results from radio-sounding in the middle atmosphere, enabling them to create more accurate temperature profiles at different latitudes.
CONTACT
Håkan Svedhem (ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands) Author paper [1]
Tel: +31 71 565 3370; E-mail: [email protected]
Fredric Taylor (University of Oxford, UK) Co-author Paper [1]
Tel: +44 1865 272903; E-mail: [email protected]
Dmitry Titov (Max Planck Institute, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany) Co-author Paper [1]
Tel: +49 5556 979 212; E-mail: [email protected]
W. J. Markiewicz (Max-Planck-Institute for Solar System Research, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany) Author paper [2]
Tel: +49 555 697 9294; E-mail: [email protected]
G. Piccioni (INAF-IASF, Rome, Italy) Author paper [3]
Tel: +39 064 993 4445; E-mail: [email protected]
P. Drossart (Observatoire de Paris LESIA, Meudon, France) Author paper [4]
Tel: +33 1 45 07 76 64; E-mail: [email protected]
Jean-Loup Bertaux (CNRS, Verrieres-le-Buisson, France) Author paper [5]
+ 33 1 69 20 31 16; E-mail: [email protected]
S. Barabash (Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden) Author paper [6]
Tel: +46 980 79122; E-mail: [email protected]
T. Zhang (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria) Author paper [7]
Tel: +43 316 412 0552; E-mail: [email protected]
M. Pätzold (University of Cologne, Germany) Author paper [8]
Tel: +49 1702 947 318; E-mail: [email protected]
C. T. Russell (UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA) Author paper [9]
Tel: +1 310 825 3188; E-mail: [email protected]
Andrew Ingersoll (California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA) N&V Author
Tel: +1 626 395 6167; E-mail: [email protected]
Additional media contact:
Monica Talevi (Science Information Manager, European Space Agency)
Tel: +31 71 565 3223; Email: [email protected]
ESA Media Relations Office
Tel: +33 1 5369 7299
Fax: +33 1 5369 7690
[10] Malaria: Molecular insight into clinical severity (AOP)
DOI: 10.1038/nature06311
***This paper will be published electronically on Nature's website on 28 November at 1800 London time / 1300 US Eastern time (which is also when the embargo lifts) as part of our AOP (ahead of print) programme. Although we have included it on this release to avoid multiple mailings it will not appear in print on 29 November, but at a later date.***
Malaria symptoms in children can range from a mild flu-like illness to coma and death, but what makes this dread disease so variable is unclear. A paper in this week’s Nature has come up with a possible explanation by digging into the molecular genetics of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible, and finding that the human host influences its physiological state - and maybe somehow its virulence.
Aviv Regev and co-workers analysed the RNA profile of parasites in blood from infected Senegalese children. They discovered that while circulating in the blood P. falciparum can be actively growing, starving or even stressed out - a surprising range of states considering that only the first of these is apparent when the parasite is studied in culture.
Identifying the disease agent’s responses to its host in its natural setting has implications for drug therapy and vaccine development, say the authors. They hope that the newly identified states will turn out to be useful for predicting the likely severity of the illness.
CONTACT
Aviv Regev (MIT/Broad Institute of Biology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Tel: +1 617 324 4911; E-mail: [email protected]
[11] Metabolism: New compounds offer promise for diabetes treatment (pp 712-716)
Drug researchers have identified a new class of molecule that could help to tackle diabetes, and which mimic the beneficial metabolic effects of a reduced-calorie diet. The compounds activate the same pathway targeted by resveratrol, the compound thought to deliver many of the proposed health benefits of red wine and grapes.
The new compounds are roughly 1,000 times more potent than resveratrol at activating a molecule called SIRT1, which functions to ensure that the body remains receptive to the activity of the hormone insulin. They are therefore more potent at staving off the development of type 2 diabetes. Obese mice treated with the compounds showed improved insulin sensitivity and reduced blood glucose levels, report researchers led by Christoph Westphal in this week's Nature.
Although far from entering clinical testing in humans, the compounds potentially offer an important therapeutic avenue for developing treatments to tackle diseases linked to ageing and poor diet, the researchers add.
CONTACT
Christoph Westphal (Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc, Cambridge, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 617 252 6920; E-mail: [email protected]
[12] & [13] Cell biology: Architecture of the cell (pp 683-701; N&V)
The gateway to the nucleus is described in detail in a coup for computational biology, published in two papers in this week’s Nature. The new computational method can illustrate the structure of large complexes containing many proteins, and is used to describe the structure of the nuclear pore complex - the largest protein complex in the cell.
The nuclear pore complex is responsible for the exchange of components between the nucleus and cytoplasm within a cell. Its large complex is made up of many copies of around 30 different proteins, with at least 450 proteins in all. The technique of Michael Rout and colleagues provides a detailed view of the architecture of the yeast nuclear pore complex. They describe a core scaffold forming a network that coats the surface of the nuclear envelope membrane with large numbers of proteins lining its inner face. Despite its size there are only a few structural modules in the complex; this underlying architectural simplicity provides possible pointers to its evolutionary origins from a ‘primordial’ nuclear pore complex.
CONTACT
Michael Rout (The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA)
Tel: +1 212 327 8135; E-mail: [email protected]
John Aitchison (Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, USA) N&V Author
Tel: +1 206 732 1344; E-mail: [email protected]
[14] Genomics: Rearranging genomes (AOP)
DOI: 10.1038/nature06452
RNA molecules are shown to guide genome rearrangement in new cells in a paper published online in Nature this week. Laura Landweber and colleagues demonstrate that in the ciliate Oxytricha trifallax, maternal RNA could serve as a template for chromosomal rearrangements in new cells.
Genome-wide rearrangement of DNA takes place in many eukaryotes, but is most exaggerated and therefore easiest to study in cilia. O. trifallax cuts up and removes most of its nuclear DNA during one developmental stage, stitching 5% of its chromosomes back together at specific points. The team show the rearrangement is controlled by maternal RNA that remains in the new cell by removing RNAs and demonstrating the disruption of proper assembly. Their finding suggests a previously unknown role for RNA in genome rearrangement in vivo.
CONTACT
Laura Landweber (Princeton University, NJ, USA)
Tel: +1 609 258 1947; E-mail: [email protected]
[15] Materials: Keeping an eye on guest behaviour (pp 705-708)
A combination of electron microscopy and optical molecular tracking has, for the first time, allowed researchers to watch ‘guest’ molecules responding to structural features of their host materials. Understanding this crucial behaviour in mesoporous solids paves the way for possible applications for such materials, in areas ranging from microelectronics to medical diagnosis.
The molecular movement in the pore system is the most important and defining characteristic of porous materials, and researchers have long sought a means of learning more about this movement. Thomas Bein and colleagues describe a method that correlates the guest’s motion with the structure of the material in Nature this week. They reveal how single luminescent dye molecules travel through linear or curved sections of the material, opening up a deeper understanding of guest and host interactions.
CONTACT
Thomas Bein (University of Munich, Germany)
Tel: +49 89 2180 77623; E-mail: [email protected]
[16] And finally... A new role for p53 (pp 721-724; N&V)
The famous tumour suppressor gene p53 is now shown also to have a role in reproduction in a paper in Nature this week. Arnold J. Levine and colleagues’ study could have important implications in the field of human reproduction.
Many studies have shown the importance of p53 in cancer prevention but little is known about its normal functions. The team investigate its role in reproduction and show that female mice without the gene have significantly lower rates of embryonic implantation, pregnancy success and litter size. The lack of p53 did not affect male mice.
The work clearly demonstrates a new role for p53 in the regulation of mouse maternal reproduction and the team suggests that it may have a similar effect in humans.
CONTACT
Arnold J. Levine (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, USA)
Tel: +1 609 734 8005; E-mail: [email protected]
Colin Stewart (Institute of Medical Biology, Singapore) N&V Author
Tel: +65 6586 9911; E-mail: [email protected]
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
[17] Protein translocation across the eukaryotic endoplasmic reticulum and bacterial plasma membranes (pp 663-669)
[18] Shiga toxin induces tubular membrane invaginations for its uptake into cells (pp 670-675)
[19] A dual-Ca21-sensor model for neurotransmitter release in a central synapse (pp 676-682; N&V)
[20] A diffusion mechanism for core-mantle interaction (pp 709-711)
[21] Interpretation of the sonic hedgehog morphogen gradient by a temporal adaptation mechanism (pp 171-720)
[22] Intracellular bacterial growth is controlled by a kinase network around PKB/AKT1 (pp 725-730)
[23] Calcineurin sets the bandwidth for discrimination of signals during thymocyte development (pp 731-735)
[24] mTOR controls mitochondrial oxidative function through a YY1-PGC-1a transcriptional complex (pp 736-740)
[25] Inhibition of the EGF receptor by binding of MIG6 to an activating kinase domain interface (pp 741-744)
[26] The centromere geometry essential for keeping mitosis error free is controlled by spindle forces (pp 745-749)
ADVANCE ONLINE PUBLICATION
***This paper will be published electronically on Nature's website on 28 November at 1800 London time / 1300 US Eastern time (which is also when the embargo lifts) as part of our AOP (ahead of print) programme. Although we have included it on this release to avoid multiple mailings it will not appear in print on 29 November, but at a later date.***
[27] Initiation of zebrafish haematopoiesis by the TATA-box-binding protein-related factor Trf3
DOI: 10.1038/nature06349
GEOGRAPHICAL LISTING OF AUTHORS
The following list of places refers to the whereabouts of authors on the papers numbered in this release. For example, London: 4 - this means that on paper number four, there will be at least one author affiliated to an institute or company in London. 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
Sydney 18
AUSTRIA
Graz 6, 7, 9
BELGIUM
Brussels 5, 8
Liege 4, 5
CHINA
Beijing 7
FINLAND
Helsinki 6
FRANCE
Bordeaux 18
Guyancourt 5
Meudon 3, 4
Orsay 3, 4
Paris 3, 4, 5, 12, 13, 17
Reims cedex 5
Saint Maur des Fosse’s cedex 3
Toulouse 4, 6
Verrieres-le-Buisson 5
GERMANY
Cologne 8
Berlin 2, 3, 4
Berlin-Aldershof 4
Bonn 8, 12, 13
Braunschweig 2, 7
Gottingen 18
Heidelberg 12, 13
Katlenburg-Lindau 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Munich 3, 4, 15
Neubiberg 8
HUNGARY
Budapest 6
IRELAND
Kildare 6
ITALY
Florence 3, 4
L’Aquila 3, 4
Lecce 3, 4
Lecco 3
Milan 4
Naples 3, 4
Padova 3, 4
Pescara 3, 4
Rome 3, 4, 6
JAPAN
Sagamihara 6, 8
NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam 3, 4, 22
Groningen 12, 13
Leiden 22, 23
Noordwijk 1, 7
POLAND
Bartycka 4
Warsaw 3
PORTUGAL
Lisbon 3, 4
RUSSIA
Dolgoprudny 5
Moscow 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 26
SENEGAL
Dakar 10
SLOVAKIA
Kosice 7
SPAIN
Bilbao 3, 4
Granada 3, 4
SWEDEN
Kiruna 6, 7
SWITZERLAND
Bern 2, 6
UNITED KINGDOM
Aberystwyth 6
London 7, 21
Oxford 1, 3, 4
Sheffield 7
Surrey 6
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Arizona
Tucson 5, 6
California
Berkeley 6, 25
La Jolla 10, 11
Los Angeles 6, 7, 9, 21
Pasadena 3, 4, 8
Riverside 10
San Diego 10
San Francisco 12, 13
Stanford 8, 23
Colorado
Boulder 5
Maryland
Baltimore 24, 25
Laurel 6
Massachusetts
Boston 10, 11, 17, 24
Cambridge 10, 11, 23, 24
Worcester 27
Michigan
Ann Arbor 6, 21
Missouri
St Louis 25
New Jersey
New Brunswick 16
Princeton 14, 16
New York
Albany 26
New York 13, 14, 26
Troy 20
Texas
Dallas 19, 25
Houston 19
San Antonio 6
Washington
Seattle 23
West Virginia
Morgantown 6
Wisconsin
Madison 2
PRESS CONTACTS
For North America and Canada
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Tel: +1 202 737 2355; E-mail: [email protected]
For Japan, Korea, China, Singapore and Taiwan
Mika Nakano, Nature Tokyo
Tel: +81 3 3267 8751; E-mail: [email protected]
For the UK/Europe/other countries not listed above
Rachel Twinn, Nature London
Tel: +44 20 7843 4658; E-mail [email protected]
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