NATURE RESEARCH JOURNALS PRESS RELEASE
This press release is copyrighted to the Nature journals mentioned below.
This press release contains:
· Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Geoscience: Arsenic risk maps for Southeast Asia
Immunology: A common inflammatory pathway in silicosis and Alzheimer’s
Genetics: Genetic risk factor for osteoarthritis
And finally… Geoscience: Shells ruled by mass extinctions
· 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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[1] Geoscience: Arsenic risk maps for Southeast Asia
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo254
The Irrawaddy Delta, Myanmar is a high-risk area for groundwater contamination with arsenic, suggests research published online this week in Nature Geoscience. By inferring arsenic levels in groundwater from the Earth’s surface properties, the researchers present an arsenic risk map for Southeast Asia.
Michael Berg and co-authors created a statistical model that links geological features and properties of the surface soil to the risk of arsenic contamination in groundwater. They independently verified their model with a field survey in a region of southern Sumatra, Indonesia, where arsenic levels had not previously been measured. The resulting arsenic risk shows several known sites of contamination, and also reveals high risk zones in Sumatra and the Irrawaddy Delta of Myanmar, where no measurements of arsenic in groundwater are available.
Author contact:
Michael Berg (Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Zurich,
Switzerland)
Tel: +41 44 823 5078; E-mail: [email protected]
[2] & [3] Immunology: A common inflammatory pathway in silicosis and Alzheimer’s
DOI: 10.1038/ni.1631
DOI: 10.1038/ni.1636
Two different chemical agents, one associated with Alzheimer’s, the other with a severe lung disease, cause inflammation in the same way, reports two studies published online this week in Nature Immunology. This finding could provide a therapeutic target for the treatment of these diseases.
Many structurally diverse molecules, including bacterial toxins and various crystals such as silicon dioxide that cause silicosis in the lungs, induce inflammation by activating a protein complex inside cells called the inflammasome. Groups led by Eicke Latz and Douglas Golenbock show that silicon dioxide crystals and the form of beta-amyloid protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease are taken up by cells in a way that produces inflammation. This process involves seepage of the cathepsin B protein from compartments called lysosomes, which destroy cellular debris. The release of cathepsin B triggers the uncontrolled immune responses associated with silicosis and Alzheimer’s disease.
Characterizing this signalling cascade, which is very likely to be associated with other inflammatory diseases such as gout, may thus provide a common target for treatment of a myriad of conditions.
Author contacts:
Eicke Latz (University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 508 856 5889; E-mail: [email protected] Author paper [2]
Douglas Golenbock (University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worchester, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 508 856 5980; E-mail: [email protected] Author paper [3]
[4] Genetics: Genetic risk factor for osteoarthritis
DOI: 10.1038/ng.176
Variation in a gene that is expressed in cartilage is associated with increased risk of osteoarthritis, according to a study published online this week in Nature Genetics. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, and is characterized by joint pain owing to breakdown of the cartilage that cushions the joints.
Shiro Ikegawa and colleagues carried out a genome-wide association study of Japanese individuals with and without osteoarthritis, and identified variants in a gene called DVWA that are associated with increased risk of the disease. These associations were replicated in a separate Japanese population, as well as in a Chinese group.
Although the function of DVWA is unknown, the authors show that it binds to another protein called beta-tubulin, and that this binding is weakened by the variants that are associated with elevated risk of osteoarthritis. Beta-tubulin contributes to the formation of subcellular structures called microtubules, which, among other things, are known to regulate the production of cartilage. The authors propose that DVWA might modulate this activity of beta-tubulin, which could explain its association with osteoarthritis.
Author contact:
Shiro Ikegawa (Center for Genomic Medicine, RIKEN, Tokyo, Japan)
Tel: +81 3 5449 5393; E-mail: [email protected]
[5] And finally… Geoscience: Shells ruled by mass extinctions
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo251
The skeletal make-up of marine calcareous organisms such as corals and molluscs throughout geologic time is controlled by recovery from mass extinctions, rather than global changes in ocean chemistry. Previous work had suggested that changes in the magnesium content of the oceans controlled what mineral the animals used to create skeletons.
Marine calcifying organisms secrete shells of either the aragonite or calcite forms of calcium carbonate, depending on the organisms’ physiology. In the modern ocean, which favours aragonite, less than 20% of organisms secrete calcite.
Online in Nature Geoscience this week, Wolfgang Kiessling and colleagues used large palaeontology databases to examine this relationship over the past 500 million years. They find that the percentage of calcite secretors has a stronger relationship with mass extinctions and recovery periods than with ocean chemistry. The authors suggest that evolutionary fate of groups of marine calcifyers strongly depends on selective recovery from mass extinctions, rather than periodic changes in ocean chemistry.
Author contact:
Wolfgang Kiessling (Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany)
Tel: +49 30 2093 8576; E-mail: [email protected]
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Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturecellbiology)
[6] The auxin influx carrier LAX3 promotes lateral root emergence
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1754
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nchembio)
[7] An integrated platform of genomic assays reveals small-molecule bioactivities
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.100
NATURE GEOSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/ngeo)
[8] Mechanisms for retention of bioavailable nitrogen in volcanic rainforest soils
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo252
NATURE GENETICS (http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics)
[9] Critical function of Prdm14 for the establishment of the germ cell lineage in mice
DOI: 10.1038/ng.186
[10] Hypomethylation of multiple imprinted loci in individuals with transient neonatal diabetes is associated with mutations in ZFP57
DOI: 10.1038/ng.187
NATURE IMMUNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natureimmunology)
[11] An essential function for beta-arrestin 2 in the inhibitory signaling of natural killer cells
DOI: 10.1038/ni.1635
NATURE MATERIALS (http://www.nature.com/naturematerials)
[12] The role of metal nanoparticles and nanonetworks in alloy degradation
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2227
[13] Ordered silicon vacancies in the framework structure of the zeolite catalyst SSZ-74
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2228
[14] Resonant bonding in crystalline phase-change materials
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2226
Nature MEDICINE (http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine)
[15] Adenovirus-mediated gene expression imaging to directly detect sentinel lymph node metastasis of prostate cancer
DOI: 10.1038/nm.1727
NATURE METHODS (http://www.nature.com/nmeth)
[16] Yeast Barcoders: A chemogenomic application of a universal donor strain collection carrying barcode identifiers
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1231
[17] A comprehensive strategy enabling high-resolution functional analysis of the yeast genome
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1234
[18] Improving membrane voltage measurements using FRET with new fluorescent proteins
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1235
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nnano)
[19] Control of enhanced Raman scattering using a DNA-based assembly process of dye-coded nanoparticles
DOI:10.1038/nnano.2008.189
Nature NEUROSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience)
[20] The stress hormone corticosterone conditions AMPA receptor surface trafficking and synaptic potentiation
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2150
[21] Cell type–specific regulation of DARPP-32 phosphorylation by psychostimulant and antipsychotic drugs
DOI:10.1038/nn.2153
[22] Neurons born in the adult dentate gyrus form functional synapses with target cells
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2156
[23] Patches of face-selective cortex in the macaque frontal lobe
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2158
NATURE PHOTONICS (http://www.nature.com/nphoton)
[24] Robust photonic entanglement distribution by state-independent encoding onto decoherence-free subspace
DOI:10.1038/nphoton.2008.130
[25] A hybrid plasmonic waveguide for subwavelength confinement and long-range propagation
DOI:10.1038/nphoton.2008.131
[26] Enhanced light out-coupling of organic light-emitting devices using embedded low-index grids
DOI:10.1038/nphoton.2008.132
Nature PHYSICS (http://www.nature.com/naturephysics)
[27] Heavy electrons and the symplectic symmetry of spin
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1024
[28] A pumped atom laser
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1027
[29] Continuous-variable quantum cryptography using two-way quantum communication
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1018
Nature STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natstructmolbiol)
[30] Fission yeast SWI/SNF and RSC complexes show compositional and functional differences from budding yeast
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1452
[31] A comprehensive library of histone mutants identifies nucleosomal residues required for H3K4 methylation
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1454
[32] Synaptotagmin arrests the SNARE complex before triggering fast, efficient membrane fusion in response to Ca2+
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1463
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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.
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires: 22
AUSTRALIA
Acton: 28
BELGIUM
Ghent: 6, 8
Overpelt: 10
CANADA:
Calgary: 16
Toronto: 7, 16
CHILE
Chillan: 8
Valdivia: 8
CHINA
Shanghai: 11
DENMARK
Copenhagen: 10
Glostrup: 10
FRANCE
Bordeaux: 20
Marseille: 5
Montpellier: 6
GERMANY
Aachen: 14
Berlin: 5
Bremen: 23
Freiburg: 3
Hannover: 10
Munich: 2
Tubingen: 6
IRELAND
Dublin: 8
ITALY
Camerino: 29
JAPAN
Aichi: 18
Fukuoka: 21
Jiangsu: 4
Kanagawa: 4
Kobe: 9
Kyoto: 9
Miyagi: 24
Osaka: 24
Sagamihara: 4
Saitama: 18, 24
Tokyo: 4, 18
NORWAY
Trondheim: 2
SPAIN
Badajoz: 6
SWEDEN
Stockholm: 21
Umea: 6
SWITZERLAND
Dubendorf: 1
Zurich: 13
TURKEY
Istanbul: 10
UNITED KINGDOM
Cambridge: 10, 14, 30
Carlisle: 10
Exeter: 10
Glasgow: 19
Harrow: 10
Newcastle: 10
Norwich: 6
Nottingham: 6
Salisbury: 10
Southampton: 10
York: 29
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
California
Berkeley: 25
Irvine: 22
La Jolla: 22
Los Angeles: 15
Palo Alto: 7
Pasadena: 13
Richmond: 13
San Diego: 16
San Francisco: 7, 17
Illinois
Argonne: 12
Indiana
Bloomington: 6
Massachusetts
Boston: 3, 8, 30
Cambridge: 3, 11, 29
Worcester: 2, 3
Michigan
Ann Arbor: 26
Missouri
Kansas City: 31
St Louis: 6
New Jersey
Piscataway: 27
Princeton: 26
New York
New York: 21
North Carolina
Durham: 6
Wisconsin
Madison: 32
PRESS CONTACTS…
For media inquiries relating to embargo policy for all the Nature Research Journals:
Rachel Twinn (Nature London)
Tel: +44 20 7843 4658; E-mail: [email protected]
Katherine Anderson (Nature New York)
Tel: +1 212 726 9231; E-mail: [email protected]
Ruth Francis (Head of Press, 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 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 Geoscience (London)
Heike Langenberg
Tel: +44 20 7843 4042; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Immunology (New York)
Laurie Dempsey
Tel: +1 212 726 9372; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Materials (London)
Alison Stoddart
Tel: +44 20 7843 4593; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Medicine (New York)
Juan Carlos Lopez
Tel: +1 212 726 9325; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Methods (New York)
Hugh Ash
Tel: +1 212 726 9627; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Nanotechnology (London)
Peter Rodgers
Tel: +44 20 7014 4019; Email: [email protected]
Nature Neuroscience (New York)
Kalyani Narasimhan
Tel: +1 212 726 9319; 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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