This press release contains:
· Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Medicine: Growing a liver
Geoscience: Ancient ocean on Mars
Nature: Exciting shift in the brain
Materials: Liquid-crystal gels meet living cells
Genetics: Genetic variants influence testicular germ cell cancer
Immunology: Revised map of human hematopoiesis
And finally…Methods: Watching plants grow, cell by cell
· 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.
[1] Medicine: Growing a liver
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2170
The development of a cell-free matrix that can be used to grow liver grafts potentially useful for transplantation, is presented this week in Nature Medicine. These results provide a proof of principle for the generation of a transplantable liver graft as a potential treatment for liver disease.
Liver transplantation is the only available treatment for severe liver failure, but organ shortage is often a limiting factor. Although liver cells can readily be cultured, one technical challenge limiting the engineering of a liver from cultured cells is the transport of oxygen and nutrients to the whole organ.
Korkut Uygun and his colleagues report on an approach to generate transplantable liver grafts for rats starting from a cell-free liver matrix. Removing the cells from the liver matrix preserves the structural and functional characteristics of the native blood-vessel network, allowing for efficient cellular regrowth after “seeding” the matrix with adult liver cells. The repopulated matrix supports liver function at levels comparable to a normal liver. The engineered livers can also be transplanted into rats, supporting liver-cell survival and function.
Author contact:
Korkut Uygun (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Shriners Hospitals for Children, Boston, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 617 371 4881
E-mail: [email protected]
[2] Geoscience: Ancient ocean on Mars
DOI:10.1038/ngeo891
More than three billion years ago, the northern lowlands of Mars were covered by a vast ocean, suggests a study online this week in Nature Geoscience. Although previous spacecraft investigations have pointed to the possible presence of an ancient ocean on Mars, this past evidence has been uncertain.
Gaetano Di Achille and Bryan Hynek analysed the distribution of ancient delta deposits and river-valley networks on Mars. Their investigations indicate that many of the deltas sit at a similar elevation. The authors suggest that these deltas ring an ancient shoreline, providing strong support for a vast and ancient ocean in the northern plains of Mars.
The elevation of the newly proposed shoreline is also consistent with the outlets of ancient river-valley networks, indicative of a globally uniform water level on ancient Mars.
Author contact:
Gaetano Di Achille (University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA)
Tel: +39 328 002 6730
E-mail: [email protected]
[3] & [4] Nature: Exciting shift in the brain
DOI: 10.1038/nature09160
DOI: 10.1038/nature09087
Nerve cells can alter their electrical properties in an unexpected way, two Nature papers reveal. It is thought that this new type of neuronal plasticity may have a vital role during development and response to injury. Understanding the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms may help to spot therapeutically useful drug targets.
Neuronal plasticity is the ability of nerve cells to change their properties, for example by sprouting new fibres or making stronger connections. But these two papers show that electrical activity can alter the size and position of the axon initial segment (AIS), the specialized region near the base of a nerve fibre where electrical signals aimed at downstream nerve cells originate.
The effect has been demonstrated in two types of nerve cell: cultured rat hippocampal neurons, by Matthew Grubb and Juan Burrone, and bird auditory neurons, by Hiroshi Kuba and colleagues. The result is a change in the cells’ intrinsic excitability— the tendency for electrical signals to be initiated. Unravelling the pathways involved in AIS relocation could, it is hoped, uncover potential new targets for epilepsy treatment, where fine-scale control over neuronal excitability represents a major therapeutic avenue.
Author contacts:
Matthew Grubb (King's College London, UK) Author paper [3]
Tel: +44 20 7848 6554
E-mail: [email protected]
Juan Burrone (King's College London, UK) Author paper [3]
Tel: +44 20 7848 6745
E-mail: [email protected]
Hiroshi Kuba (Kyoto University, Japan) Author paper [4]
Tel: +81 75 753 4356
E-mail: [email protected]
[5] Materials: Liquid-crystal gels meet living cells
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2778
A method for making gels and noodle-shaped strings that is compatible with living cells is reported online this week in Nature Materials. The work shows promise for using these systems as cell scaffolds for long-range signal transmission within the body, for example in the heart and spinal cord.
Samuel Stupp and colleagues heat peptide suspensions to form two-dimensional flat sheets that break on cooling to form a liquid crystal. If this liquid crystal is mixed with cells and hand-drawn using a pipette into a salt solution, a noodle-shaped string composed of aligned fibres with encapsulated cells is formed. These types of gel are only accessible through this thermal route and, in comparison with existing methods to make artificially aligned fibres, do not require the use of highly mechanical or electrical processes that could be harmful to living cells.
The team show how a string with encapsulated cardiac muscle cells transmit electrical signals across the entire structure — an observation that shows the method could be used in the creation of cell scaffolds for long-range signal transmission in many major organs in the body.
Author contact:
Samuel Stupp (Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA)
Tel: +1 847 491 3002
E-mail: [email protected]
[6] Genetics: Varients influence testicular germ cell cancer
DOI: 10.1038/ng.607
Genetic variants associated with susceptibility to testicular germ cell cancer are reported this week in Nature Genetics. Testicular germ cell cancer (TGCT) is the most common cancer in men aged 15-45.
Clare Turnbull and colleagues conducted a genome-wide association study for TGCT in 979 cases, with replication in an additional 664 cases. They identify three genomic regions newly associated with susceptibility to TGCT. This includes two candidate genes, TERT and ATF7IP, involved in telomere regulation. Unusually shortened telomeres, the regions of repetitive DNA at the ends of a chromosome, have been found in many cancer types. Telomerase, which regulates telomere length, is highly expressed in testicular germ cells as well as a high proportion of cancer cells. TERT, coding for component of telomerase, has also been associated with several other cancer types. The third associated genetic region includes the sex determination gene DMRT1, which has also been implicated in testicular determination and differentiation.
Author contact:
Clare Turnbull (Institute of Cancer Research, Surrey, UK)
Tel: +44 20 8722 4455
E-mail: [email protected]
[7] Immunology: Revised map of human hematopoiesis
DOI: 10.1038/ni.1889
An updated and comprehensive map of human hematopoiesis—how cells of the immune system develop in the bone marrow—is presented in a report published online this week in Nature Immunology. This revised map may be useful when evaluating the potential of cells generated in vitro from human hematopoietic stem cells, which will likely be used in future clinical applications.
The immune system contains different types of white blood cells. T cells and B cells are known as lymphoid cells, while monocytes and macrophages are known as myeloid cells. It was previously thought that lymphoid and myeloid cells are generated from precursors with strict lymphoid or myeloid potential, which are derived from stem cells at a very early stage. However, John Dick and colleagues now demonstrate that in humans, similar to mice, lymphoid and myeloid potential separate in a gradual transition, rather than a clear cut dichotomy.
Author contact:
John Dick (University of Toronto, Canada)
Tel: +1 416 581 7472
E-mail: [email protected]
[8] And finally…Methods: Watching plants grow, cell by cell
DOI 10.1038/nmeth.1472
Automated imaging of cells in developing plants is described in a paper published this week in Nature Methods. These methods will permit a more detailed understanding of the cellular behaviors that underlie plant growth and development.
A key question in organismal development and growth is how cellular behavior translates into the properties of the growing organism. In contrast to animals, in which the body plan is mostly laid down during early development, plants continue to grow and make specialized structures such as flowers and leaves throughout their lives. To understand this process, it is necessary to image and track the behavior of hundreds or even thousands of cells over time.
Christophe Godin and colleagues carry out confocal imaging of fluorescently stained plants and report a suite of computational methods with which they monitor the three-dimensional behavior of hundreds to thousands of cells in the developing flower of Arabidopsis thaliana and in growing rice roots. Their algorithms can identify individual cells and, with minimal human intervention, accurately track which cells divide to give rise to what other cells, over time. Using these approaches, Godin and colleagues monitor cell volume and position during the growth of Arabidopsis flowers, which will allow them to build quantitative models of plant growth.
Author contact:
Christophe Godin (INRIA, Montpellier, France)
Tel: +33 4 67 61 65 77
E-mail: [email protected]
*************************************************
Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
NATURE
[9] Small regulatory RNAs inhibit RNA polymerase II during the elongation phase of transcription
DOI: 10.1038/nature09095
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY
[10] Live attenuated influenza virus vaccines by computer-aided rational design
DOI: 10.1038/nbt.1636
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY
[11] Cytosolic FoxO1 is essential for the induction of autophagy and tumour suppressor activity
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2069
[12] Myosin II isoforms identify distinct functional modules that support integrity of the epithelial zonula adherens
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2072
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
[13] Marine antifungal theonellamides target 3b-hydroxysterol to activate Rho1 signaling
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.387
NATURE CHEMISTRY
[14] Cascading transformations within a dynamic self-assembled system
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.693
NATURE GENETICS
[15] Systematic screens of a Candida albicans homozygous deletion library decouple morphogenetic switching and pathogenicity
DOI: 10.1038/ng.605
[16] A pair of floral regulators sets critical day length for Hd3a florigen expression in rice
DOi: 10.1038/ng.606
NATURE GEOSCIENCE
[17] The structure of oceanic core complexes controlled by the depth distribution of magma emplacement
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo888
NATURE IMMUNOLOGY
[18] A global network of transcription factors, involving E2A, EBF1 and Foxo1, that orchestrates B cell fate
DOI: 10.1038/ni.1891
NATURE METHODS
[19] Linking promoters to functional transcripts in small samples with nanoCAGE and CAGEscan
DOI: 10.1038/ nmeth.1470
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY
[20] Subcellular-resolution delivery of a cytokine through precisely manipulated nanowires
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2010.104
[21] Large oscillations of the magnetoresistance in nanopatterned high-temperature superconducting films
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2010.111
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
[22] Na+ imaging reveals little difference in action potential–evoked Na+ influx between axon and soma
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2574
[23] Neural dynamics of in vitro cortical networks reflects experienced temporal patterns
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2579
[24] In situ visualization and dynamics of newly synthesized proteins in rat hippocampal neurons
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2580
NATURE PHYSICS
[25] Crossover of the three-dimensional topological insulator Bi2Se3 to the two-dimensional limit
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1689
[26] Unravelling the role of the interface for spin injection into organic semiconductors
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1688
[27] Interplay of quantum criticality and geometric frustration in columbite
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1696
[28] Measurement of the effect of quantum phase slips in a Josephson junction chain
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1697
NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
[29] Role for the MOV10 RNA helicase in Polycomb-mediated repression of the INK4a tumor suppressor
DOI: 10.1038/ nsmb.1824
[30] Protein Refolding is Required for Assembly of the Type Three Secretion Needle
DOI: 10.1038/ nsmb.1822
[31] A unique secondary structure switch controls constitutive gene repression by retinoic acid receptor
DOI: 10.1038/ nsmb.1855
[32] An aqueous H+ permeation pathway in the voltage-gated proton channel Hv1
DOI: 10.1038/ nsmb.1826
[33] Human mitochondrial mTERF wraps around DNA through a left-handed superhelical tandem repeat
DOI: 10.1038/ nsmb.1859
[34] Structural Changes in a Marine Podovirus Associated with Release of its Genome into Prochlorococcus
DOI: 10.1038/ nsmb.1823
*************************************************
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
Brisbane : 12
BELGIUM
Braine-L’Alleud: 32
CANADA:
Toronto: 7
CHINA
Beijing: 11, 25
Guangzhou: 34
Hong Kong: 25
DENMARK
Copenhagen: 19
FINLAND
Tampere: 33
FRANCE
Antipolis: 8
Evry: 26
Grenoble: 28
Illkirch: 31
Lyon: 8
Montpellier: 8, 31
Orsay: 26
Paris: 17, 24
Pessac: 14
GERMANY
Berlin: 30
Frankfurt: 24
Goettingen: 30
Karlsruhe: 28
Magdeburg: 24
ISRAEL
Beer-Sheva: 22
Jerusalem: 1
Ramat-Gan: 21
Rehovot: 22
ITALY
Bologna: 26
Pisa: 1
Rome: 19
Trieste: 19
JAPAN
Kyoto: 4, 13
Okayama: 1
Saitama: 13
Tokyo: 1, 13
Tsukuba: 16
Yokohama: 19
NETHERLANDS
Noordwijk: 2
Utrecht: 30
PORTUGAL
Oeiras : 23
RUSSIA
Moscow: 28
SPAIN
Barcelona: 5, 33
Bilbao: 26
San Sebastian: 26
Vigo: 31
Zaragoza: 33
SWEDEN
Linkoping: 18
Lund: 18
Stockholm: 19, 30
UNITED KINGDOM
Cambridge: 6, 14
Leeds: 6
London: 3, 29
Oxford: 32
Sutton: 6
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Arizona
Tucson: 34
California
La Jolla: 18
Los Angeles: 23
Pasadena: 24
San Francisco: 15
San Jose: 20
Santa Barbara: 27
Santa Clara: 19
Stanford: 25
Colorado
Boulder: 2
Denver: 18
Florida
Coral Gables: 10
Illinois
Chicago: 5
Evanston: 5
Kentucky
Lexington: 27
Maryland
Baltimore: 20
Bethesda: 12
Massachusetts
Boston: 1, 32
Cambridge: 17, 19, 20, 34
Woods Hole: 17, 22
New Jersey
Piscataway: 1
New York
Bronx: 10
Cold Spring Harbor: 19
New York: 29
Stony Brook: 10
Upton: 21
Valhalla: 22
Woodbury: 19
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh: 1
Texas
Austin: 20, 25
Houston: 34
Virginia
Richmond: 32
Wisconsin
Madison: 9
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]
Neda Afsarmanesh (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 Biotechnology (New York)
Michael Francisco
Tel: +1 212 726 9288
E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Cell Biology (London)
Sowmya Swaminathan
Tel: +44 20 7843 4656
E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Chemical Biology (Boston)
Sarah Daniels
Tel: +1 617 475 9241
E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Chemistry (London)
Stuart Cantrill
Tel: +44 20 7014 4018
E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Genetics (New York)
Myles Axton
Tel: +1 212 726 9324
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)
Vincent Dusastre
Tel: +44 20 7843 4531
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)
Sabbi Lall
Tel: +1 212 726 9326
E-mail: [email protected]
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