This press release contains:
• Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Photonics: Optical pacemaker regulates heart beat
Methods: Evaluating recovery to nervous system injuries
Immunology: Explaining human allergy to nickel
Genetics: Exome sequencing of a rare disorder
Methods: How to best sequence all of your RNA
Chemical Biology: The secret is in the pocket
• 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] Photonics: Optical pacemaker regulates heart beat
DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2010.166
An optical pacemaker that uses pulses of infrared laser light to control the beat of an embryonic heart is reported online in Nature Photonics this week. Laser pulses have previously been shown to stimulate contractions in individual heart cells, but this is first time that a laser beam has been used to pace an entire heart in vivo.
Michael Jenkins, Andrew Rollins and colleagues used an optical fibre to deliver 1–2 millisecond-long pulses of infrared light to the hearts of 2–3-day-old quail embryos. They found that the heart beat became synchronized and ‘locked’ to the laser pulses, with the beat following the laser pulsing rate as it was increased from twice to three times a second and back again.
Once optimized, this all-optical approach could become a useful aid for cardiology, allowing for non-contact studies without need for the invasive electrodes usually employed. Experiments to assess the feasibility of the approach for pacing an adult heart, however, still need to be performed.
Author contacts:
Michael Jenkins (Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA)
Tel: +1 216 844 3298
E-mail: [email protected]
Andrew Rollins (Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA)
Tel: +1 216 368 1917
E-mail: [email protected]
[2] Methods: Evaluating recovery to nervous system injuries
DOI 10.1038/nmeth.1484
An assessment of locomotor function in rodents with central nervous system (CNS) injuries is published this week in Nature Methods. The study provides a systematically collected data set to help researchers match a type of nervous system lesion with its appropriate locomotor impediments in order to best evaluate the effectiveness of different treatments.
A consequence of damage to the CNS caused by trauma, stroke or
neurodegenerative diseases is impairment of motor functions. In rodents, locomotion tests—such as walking or swimming—are used to evaluate the functional motor deficits caused by this kind of damage. Accurate and comprehensive functional testing is important to determine whether a novel therapeutic approach is successful as well as to understand complex CNS processes, such as those leading to spontaneous recovery.
Bjoern Zoerner and colleagues used four motor tasks—two types of walking, wading and swimming—that test different aspects of locomotion deficits in rats and mice with different models of CNS damage. They found that the locomotor profiles in the
rodents were highly dependent on the location and severity of the CNS lesion.
Author contact:
Bjoern Zoerner (Brain Research Institute, Zurich, Switzerland)
Tel: +41 79 822 3618
E-mail: [email protected]
[3] Immunology: Explaining human allergy to nickel
DOI: 10.1038/ni.1919
The way in which nickel inducesallergy in humans is reported this week online in Nature Immunology. Allergic responses to nickel-containing jewellery – most commonly rings and earrings – and cellular telephones affect millions of people worldwide.
Exposure to nickel causes burning, itching, redness, swelling and even blisters in areas of contact. Matthias Goebeler and colleagues show that nickel binds TLR4, a critical receptor normally involved in detecting pathogens. Similar to when TLR4 recognizes infectious agents, nickel also triggers an inflammatory response, which causes the symptoms associated with allergy.
The authors map binding of nickel to two specific sites on TLR4. Importantly, mutating these sites abolishes the ability of TLR4 to recognize nickel while preserving its ability to respond to pathogens. As such, site-specific TLR4 inhibition may serve as a potential strategy for therapeutic intervention without affecting
vital immune responses.
Author contact:
Matthias Goebeler (University of Giessen, Germany)
Tel: +49 641 99 43200
E-mail: [email protected]
[4] Genetics: Exome sequencing of a rare disorder
DOI: 10.1038/ng.646
Sequencing of the exome – coding regions of the human genome – is used to identify the genetic basis of Kabuki syndrome in a paper published this week in Nature Genetics. This is among the first few examples of using exome sequencing to identify the genes underlying a rare disorder.
Kabuki syndrome is a rare malformation disorder, with an estimated frequency of 1 in 32,000 births in Japan. Kabuki is characterized by distinctive facial features and mild mental retardation.
Jay Shendure and colleagues report high coverage exome sequencing of 10 individuals with Kabuki syndrome. They used a filtering approach to screen the genetic variants identified through sequencing for those likely to be associated with this disorder, and confirmed by targeted sequencing in additional cases. They identified variants in the gene MLL2 as a major cause of Kabuki syndrome.
Author contact:
Jay Shendure (University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA)
Tel: +1 206 685 8543
E-mail: [email protected]
[5] Methods: How to best sequence all of your RNA
DOI 10.1038/nmeth.1491
A comprehensive analysis and comparison of seven methods for strand-specific RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), together with recommendation of which techniques perform best, is published online this week in Nature Methods.
It is becoming easier to analyze the entirety of an organism’s RNA, with massively parallel sequencing techniques, but the large number of sample preparation methods leaves many users confused as to which approach is more appropriate for their particular experiment.
Joshua Levin and colleagues provide guidance with the analysis of the most commonly used protocols for strand-specific RNA analysis. These protocols allow one to annotate the structure of transcribed genes, quantify the expression level of each transcript and measure the extent to which genes are transcribed into several isoforms. They also preserving strand information - that is, they identify transcripts that are derived from the sense or the antisense strand of DNA, which yields important information about the function of the RNA because antisense transcripts are likely to play a regulatory role.
Author contact:
Joshua Levin (Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 617 714 8333
E-mail: [email protected]
[6] Chemical Biology: The secret is in the pocket
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.421
The identification of a new class of chemicals that bind to a previously unknown allosteric pocket—a pocket outside the enzyme active site—and inhibit the enzyme FPPS is reported online this week in Nature Chemical Biology. FPPS is an enzyme involved in lipid formation and is a potential target in multiple diseases, including cancer. This discovery could lead to the development of a new breed of antitumor therapeutics.
Bisphosphonates—a class of FDA-approved drugs that are effective in the treatment of bone diseases such as osteoporosis—are potent inhibitors of FPPS. It has been thought that bisphosphonates could be used as antitumor agents, but the high attraction of this class of chemicals to bone mineral makes them unsuitable fortargeting most tumors. Using a combination of NMR spectroscopy and X-ray
crystallography, Wolfgang Jahnke and colleagues identify a novel allosteric binding pocket that permits the inhibition of FPPS by new non-bisphosphonate types of chemicals. This finding opens up opportunities for further validation of FPPS as an anti-cancer target.
Author contact:
Wolfgang Jahnke (Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Basel,
Switzerland)
Tel: +41 61 324 9176
E-mail: [email protected]
Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
Nature
[7] Comprehensive methylome map of lineage commitment from haematopoietic progenitors
DOI: 10.1038/nature09367
[8] Neurological disease mutations compromise a C-terminal ion pathway in the Na1/K1-ATPase
DOI: 10.1038/nature09309
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY
[9] Deconvolution of complex G protein–coupled receptor signaling in live cells using dynamic mass redistribution measurements
DOI: 10.1038/nbt.1671
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY
[10] Defective CFTR induces aggresome formation and lung inflammation in cystic fibrosis through ROS-mediated autophagy inhibition
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2090
[11] Live-imaging RNAi screen identifies PP2A–B55a and importin-b1 as key mitotic exit regulators in human cells
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2092
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
[12] A small-molecule inhibitor shows that pirin regulates migration of melanoma cells
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.423
NATURE CHEMISTRY
[13] Enhanced electrocatalysis of the oxygen reduction reaction based on patterning of platinum surfaces with cyanide
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.771
NATURE GENETICS
[14] Common genetic variation in the HLA region is associated with late-onset sporadic Parkinson’s disease
DOI: 10.1038/ng.642
[15] A genome-wide association study identifies four susceptibility loci for keloid in the Japanese population
DOI: 10.1038/ng.645
[16] Genome-wide association study identifies new HLA class II haplotypes strongly protective against narcolepsy
DOI: 10.1038/ng.647
NATURE GEOSCIENCE
[17] Simultaneous estimation of global present-day water transport and glacial isostatic adjustment
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo938
NATURE IMMUNOLOGY
[18] MicroRNAs modulate the noncanonical transcription factor NF-kappaB pathway by regulating expression of the kinase IKKalpha during macrophage differentiation
DOI: 10.1038/ni.1918
NATURE MATERIALS
[19] The initialization and manipulation of quantum information stored in silicon by bismuth dopants
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2828
NATURE MEDICINE
[20] Therapeutic cell engineering with surface-conjugated synthetic nanoparticles
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2198
NATURE METHODS
[21] High resolution mapping of protein sequence–function relationships
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1492
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY
[22] Ultrahigh-power micrometre-sized supercapacitors based on onion-like carbon
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2010.162
[23] An index for characterization of nanomaterials in biological systems
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2010.164
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
[24] Parallel processing of visual space by neighboring neurons in mouse visual cortex
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2620
[25] Distinct rod-retinal circuits drive circadian photoentrainment across a wide range of light intensities
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2617
[26] MeCP2 controls BDNF expression and cocaine intake through homeostatic interactions with microRNA-212
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2615
[27] MeCP2 contributes to development and function of brain networks that mediate behavioral responses to psychostimulants
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2614
NATURE PHOTONICS
[28] Hanbury Brown and Twiss interferometry with interacting photons
DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2010.195
NATURE PHYSICS
[29] Noise-powered probabilistic concentration of phase information
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1743
[30] The effect of flares on the Total Solar Irradiance
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1741
NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
[31] Nuclear pore formation but not nuclear growth is governed by cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) during interphase
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1878
[32] Position-dependent alternative splicing activity revealed by global profiling of alternative splicing events regulated by PTB
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1881
[33] Molecular basis of FIR-mediated c-myc transcriptional control
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1883
[34] Tissue- and age-specific DNA replication patterns at the CTG/CAG-expanded human myotonic dystrophy type 1 locus
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1876
[35] A split active site couples cap recognition by Dcp2 to activation
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1879
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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.
AUSTRIA
Vienna: 11
BELGIUM
Brussels: 30
Leuven: 11
CANADA
Ottawa: 11
Toronto: 34
CZECH REPUBLIC
Olomouc: 29
DENMARK
Aarhus: 8
Copenhagen-Valby: 8
Glostrup: 16
Kongens Lyngby: 29
Odense: 8
FRANCE
Montpellier: 16
Orleans: 30
Paris: 16, 32, 34
Toulouse: 22
GERMANY
Bonn: 9
Dresden: 11
Erlangen: 29
Freiburg: 3
Freising-Weihenstephan: 3
Giessen: 3
Goettingen: 31
Mannheim: 3
Munster: 3
Regensberg: 16
Schwalmstadt-Treysa: 16
ISRAEL
Jerusalem: 5
Ramat Aviv: 32
Rehovot: 28
ITALY
Foggia: 10
Milan: 10
Naples: 10
JAPAN
Aichi: 13
Hokkaido: 4
Kanagawa: 15
Nagasaki: 4, 31
Osaka: 31
Saitama: 12, 31
Shizuoka: 31
Tokyo: 15
Yokohama: 4
NETHERLANDS
Delft: 17
Heeze: 16
Leiden: 16
Nijmegen: 16
Utrecht: 17
SOUTH KOREA
Suwon: 18
SPAIN
Barcelona: 16
Madrid: 13, 16
Seville: 33
Valencia: 16
SWITZERLAND
Basel: 6
Bern: 16
Davos Dorf: 30
Lausanne: 16
Lugano: 16
Zurich: 2, 11
UNITED KINGDOM
Cambridge: 32
Dundee: 11
Edinburgh: 14
Glasgow: 9
London: 19, 24, 32, 33
Southampton: 10
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
California
La Jolla: 10
Los Angeles: 25
Pasadena: 17
San Carlos: 7
San Francisco: 35
Santa Clara: 32
Stanford: 7
Florida
Jupiter: 26
Miami: 14
Tallahassee: 19
Georgia
Atlanta: 14
Illinois
Argonne: 13
Chicago: 35
Maryland
Baltimore: 7, 14, 25
Bethesda: 14, 18
Chevy Chase: 20
Massachusetts
Boston: 7, 20
Cambridge: 5, 20
Woods Hole: 11
New York
Albany: 14
New York: 25
North Carolina
Durham: 27
Raleigh: 23
Ohio
Cleveland: 1
Oregon
Portland: 14
Pennsylvania
King of Prussia: 16
Philadelphia: 22
Tennessee
Nashville: 1
Texas
Austin: 7
Washington
Kirkland: 14
Seattle: 4, 14, 21
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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