This press release contains:
• Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Materials: Light at your fingertips
Medicine: New factor involved in depression
Geoscience: Amplified destruction in Haiti
Genetics: Variants associated with psoriasis
Geoscience: Surface wind slow-down
Neuroscience: Bringing SOD1 into the fold
Methods: Getting transgenes to the brain
Geoscience: Miniature methane source
• 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] Materials: Light at your fingertips
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2879
The fabrication of biocompatible sheets of tiny light-emitting diodes and photodetectors is reported online this week in Nature Materials. The sheets are stretchable and could in future be used for many applications, such as medical diagnostics within the body, or wearable light sources.
All conventional inorganic light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are brittle and cannot be stretched or conform to curved surfaces, which limits their potential uses. John Rogers and colleagues have now integrated tiny LEDs and photodetectors smaller than the tip of a pen on flexible, biocompatible electronic sheets. The sheets are stretchable and can be twisted by 720 degrees without losing functionality. Applications demonstrated include implantation under the skin of mice for possible diagnostic purposes and incorporation as light-emitters on surgical gloves.
Author contact:
John Rogers (University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA)
Tel: +1 217 244 4979
E-mail: [email protected]
[2] Medicine: /New factor involved in depression
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2219
An enzyme known as MKP-1 is linked to depression and could potentially be a new target for therapy of the disorder reports an article online this week in Nature Medicine.
The prevalence and economic burden associated with depression make it one of the most debilitating neurobiological illnesses. Despite this, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of depression are not entirely known. Ronald Duman and his colleagues applied genomic techniques to human brain tissue from people with depression and found increased expression of MKP-1. MKP-1 is a member of a family of proteins that remove phosphate groups from proteins and serves as a key negative regulator of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade – a major signaling pathway involved in neuronal function.
The authors tested the role of MKP-1 in rats and mice and found that increased MKP-1 expression caused depressive behaviours. Conversely, treatment with antidepressant normalized MKP-1 expression and behaviour, and mice lacking MKP-1 were resilient to stress-induced depressive pathology. This therefore underscores the potential relevance of this molecule to the pathophysiology of depression.
Author contact:
Ronald Duman (Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA)
Tel: +1 203 974 7726
E-mail: [email protected]
[3] Geoscience: Amplified destruction in Haiti
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo988
Ground motions during the Haiti earthquake were significantly amplified along a mountain ridge, causing substantial structural damage, reports a study published online this week in Nature Geoscience. The paper is published this month as part of Nature Geoscience’s special issue on the Haiti earthquake.
Microzonation maps use local geological conditions to characterize seismic hazard, but do not generally consider topography — the shape of the Earth’s surface. Susan Hough and colleagues measured aftershocks following the Haiti quake to assess how ground motion varied in different parts of Port-au-Prince. They compared sites located on soft sediments, hard ground and rocky, mountainous ridges. As expected, structures built on soft sediments experienced enhanced shaking but, surprisingly, the strongest ground motions occurred on a mountainous ridge and contributed to the collapse of a hotel.
These findings indicate that topography, as well as the local rock type, plays an important role in seismic hazard.
Author contact:
Susan Hough (U.S. Geological Survey, Pasadena, CA, USA)
Tel: +1 626 583 7224
E-mail: [email protected]
[4], [5], [6], [7] & [8] Genetics: Variants associated with psoriasis
DOI: 10.1038/ng.694
DOI: 10.1038/ng.689
DOI: 10.1038/ng.688
DOI: 10.1038/ng.693
DOI: 10.1038/ng.690
Genetic variants associated with increased susceptibility to psoriasis are reported in five papers published online this week in Nature Genetics. Psoriasis is a chronic and recurrent skin disease, and one of the most prevalent autoimmune diseases, with a global prevalence of 2-3%.
Richard Trembath and colleagues report a genome-wide association study in 2,622 psoriasis cases and 5,667 healthy controls in the UK, with replication in over 9,000 individuals from European studies. They identify six genomic regions newly associated with psoriasis, and find evidence for an interaction between two associated regions.
Andre Franke, André Reis, and their respective colleagues report independent psoriasis genome-wide association studies in German populations. They each identify genetic variants in the gene TRAF3IP2 associated with psoriasis.
James Elder and colleagues report meta-analysis of two recent genome-wide association studies for psoriasis, identifying three genomic regions newly associated with psoriasis.
Xue-Jun Zhang and colleagues report association analyses in a Chinese population, identifying six genomic regions newly associated with psoriasis. Their comparison with the findings in European studies highlights the heterogeneity in psoriasis genetic susceptibility factors between populations.
Author contacts:
Richard Trembath (King's College London School of Medicine, UK) Author paper [4]
Tel: +44 207 188 7994
E-mail: [email protected]
Andre Franke (Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany) Author paper [5]
Tel: +49 431 597 4138
E-mail: [email protected]
André Reis (University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany) Author paper [6]
Tel: +49 9131 8522318
E-mail: [email protected]
James Elder (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA) Author paper [7]
Tel: +1 734 763 0355
E-mail: [email protected]
Xue-Jun Zhang (Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China) Author paper [8]
Tel: +86 551 5161002
E-mail: [email protected]
[9] Geoscience: Surface wind slow-down
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo979
An increase in land-surface roughness has contributed to the recent slow-down of near-surface wind speeds in the Northern Hemisphere reports a study published online this week in Nature Geoscience. This finding could have implications for future wind-power production.
Robert Vautard and colleagues analysed terrestrial wind speeds,primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, over the past three decades. They noted that surface winds declined by 5–15% during this period. Model simulations indicate that an increase in surface roughness — due to an increase in vegetation cover — could explain 25–60% of the stilling in the northern mid-latitudes.
The authors suggest that if surface winds continue to slow, there will be a major loss of wind-power production.
Author contact:
Robert Vautard (LSCE, Gif sur Yvette, France)
Tel: +33 1 6908 2640
E-mail: [email protected]
[10] Neuroscience: Bringing SOD1 into the fold
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2660
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease is marked by a progressive death of motor neurons, and is invariably fatal. A small percent of ALS patients have an inherited mutation in the gene encoding the protein superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1); this mutation is thought to cause a conformational change in the protein and cause it to not function properly. However, over 90% of all ALS cases are sporadic, with no clearly associated risk factors or inherited causes. A study published online in Nature Neuroscience now reports that SOD1 in sporadic ALS patients also shows similar shape changes and may cause motor neuron death in the same way as the mutated SOD1 found in some inherited ALS cases
Daryl Bosco, Robert Brown and colleagues studied mutant SOD1, SOD1 from ALS patients with no genetic mutation, and normal SOD1 that had been damaged by oxidization – which typically occurs during cellular stress, and may be a possible cause of ALS. They found that all three forms of the protein had the same specific shape change. The mis-folding of SOD1 prevented transport of molecules down the axon of the motor neuron, which then killed the neurons.
These findings suggest that a particular shape change of SOD1 is the common source of cell death in most forms of ALS. Therefore research on the inherited form of the disease – which is much easier to model in mice – may help discover treatments that will be useful in future for all ALS patients.
Author contacts:
Daryl Bosco (University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 508 334 3035
E-mail: [email protected]
Robert Brown (University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 508 334 5989; E-mail: [email protected]
[11] Methods: Getting transgenes to the brain
DOI 10.1038/nmeth.1518
A simple method to deliver external genes to the mouse central nervous system is published this week in Nature Methods.
Exogenous genes, or transgenes, are frequently delivered to the brain using viral vectors, but existing methods for doing this have disadvantages. In particular, it is typically necessary to inject the vectors directly into the brain. Although some vectors do reach the brain if administered peripherally, they predominantly target non-neuronal cells and immature neurons.
Jean-Pierre Louboutin and colleagues now show that vectors derived from recombinant SV40 viruses can be injected intravenously into mice to yield efficient expression of transgenes in mature neurons in several areas of the central nervous system. This occurs in particular after administration of the organic compound mannitol to relax the blood-brain barrier.
The authors examined both standard reporters and proteins of potential therapeutic interest for their delivery to the brain using this method. They report that mature neurons in multiple regions of the cortex and spinal cord were robustly targeted. The delivery of some popular reporters, such as fluorescent proteins, remains to be optimized, however.
By permitting robust diffuse delivery of transgenes expressing several different types of proteins to mature neurons in the mouse central nervous system, this approach should simplify and enable numerous experiments in neurobiology.
Author contact:
Jean-Pierre Louboutin (Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA)
Tel: +1 215 503 1268
E-mail: [email protected]
[12] Geoscience: Miniature methane source
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo980
Miniature wetlands that form on the branches of tropical trees emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas, suggests a study published online this week in Nature Geoscience. Tropical forests are thought to emit large quantities of methane to the atmosphere, but the source of the gas as remained uncertain.
Edzo Veldkamp and colleagues collected plants that grow on the branches of tropical trees — known as tank bromeliads — in the Ecuadorian Andes, and measured their methane emissions. All plants emitted methane, due to the accumulation of methane-producing microbes in water-filled tank-like structures at the base of their leaves.
The authors suggest that the plants act as miniature wetlands and, together with other wetlands hidden beneath the forest canopy, could help to explain the high methane levels above tropical forests. In an accompanying News and Views, Joseph B. Yavitt writes, “Hopefully, the work will spur the search for cryptic wetlands lurking in other remote places. Personally, I believe that we have missed many obscure wetlands out there and they are waiting to be discovered.”
Author contacts:
Edzo Veldkamp (Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany)
Tel: +49 551 7339
E-mail: [email protected]
Joseph Yavitt (Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA) N&V author
Tel +1 607 255 6601
E-mail: [email protected]
******************************************************Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
NATURE
[13] Identification of UBIAD1 as a novel human menaquinone-4 biosynthetic enzyme
DOI: 10.1038/nature09464
[14] Maternal mRNA deadenylation and decay by the piRNA pathway in the early Drosophila embryo
DOI: 10.1038/nature09465
[15] Agenome-wideRNAi screen reveals determinants of human embryonic stem cell identity
DOI: 10.1038/nature09531
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY
[16] Antibody recycling by engineered pH-dependent antigen binding improves the duration of antigen neutralization
DOI: 10.1038/nbt.1691
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY
[17] The histone H4 Lys 20 methyltransferase PR Set7 regulates replication origins in mammalian cells
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2113
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
[18] The kinetic parameters and energy cost of the Hsp70 chaperone as a polypeptide unfoldase
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.455
[19] Small-molecule inactivation of HIV-1 NCp7 by repetitive intracellular acyl transfer
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.456
NATURE GEOSCIENCE
[20] Central Pacific El Niño and decadal climate change in the North Pacific Ocean
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo984
NATURE IMMUNOLOGY
[21] IL-35-mediated induction of a potent regulatory T cell population
DOI: 10.1038/ni.1952/
NATURE MATERIALS
[22] Observation of the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect in an Oxide
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2874
[23] DNA-controlled assembly of an NaTl lattice structure from gold and protein nanoparticles
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2877
[24] Oxygen Reduction in Nanoporous Metal/Ionic Liquid Composite Electrocatalysts
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2878
NATURE METHODS
[25] Mutation discovery by targeted genomic enrichment of multiplexed barcoded samples
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1516
[26] Clonal tracking of hESCs reveals differential contribution to functional assays
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1519
[27] Magnetic Torque Tweezers: Measuring Torsional Stiffness in DNA and RecA-DNA Filaments
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1520
[28] Dual RMCE for efficient re-engineering of mouse mutant alleles
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1521
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY
[29] Exciton-like trap states limit electron mobility in TiO_2 nanotubes
DOI:10.1038/nnano.2010.196
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
[30] N type Ca^2+ Channels Carry the Largest Current: Implications for Nanodomains and Transmitter release
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2657
[31] Fezf2 Directs the Differentiation of Corticofugal Neurons from Striatal Progenitors in vivo
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2658
[32] The functional asymmetry of auditory cortex is reflected in the organization of local cortical circuits
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2659
[33] Non-redundant odor coding by sister mitral cells revealed by light addressable glomeruli in the mouse
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2673
NATURE PHOTONICS
[34] Robustness of bipartite Gaussian entangled beams propagating in lossy channels
DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2010.222
NATURE PHYSICS
[35] Coherent electron-nuclear coupling in oligothiophene molecular wires
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1802
[36] Real space observation of emergent magnetic monopoles and associated Dirac strings in artificial kagome spin ice
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1794
[37] Many-body Landau-Zener dynamics in coupled 1D Bose liquids
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1801
[38] Optical one-way quantum computing with a simulated valence-bond solid
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1777
NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
[39] The program for processing newly synthesized histones H3.1 and H4
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1911
[40] Binding-induced folding of prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein on the Mycobacterium proteasomal ATPase targets substrates for degradation
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1918
[41] Structural basis for cooperative RNA binding and export complex assembly by HIV Rev
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1902
******************************************************
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: 4
Sydney: 38
AUSTRIA
Graz: 4
BRAZIL
Sao Paulo: 34
CANADA:
Guelph: 38
Hamilton: 26
Quebec: 10
St John’s: 5, 7
St Laurent: 5
Toronto: 5, 7, 30, 39
Waterloo: 38
CHINA
Anhui: 8
Beijing: 8
Dalian: 1
Huhehot: 8
Shandong: 8
Shanghai: 8
Tianjin: 8
Xinjiang: 8
Zhejiang: 8
CZECH REPUBLIC
Prague: 23
FINLAND
Helsinki: 4
FRANCE
Gif-sur-Yvette: 9
Grenoble: 17
Marseille: 32
Montpellier: 14, 17
Paris: 12
GERMANY
Bad Bentheim: 6
Bonn: 6
Braunschweig: 12
Erlangen: 4, 6, 34
Frankfurt am Main: 6
Garching: 37
Goettingen: 4, 12
Heidelberg: 4, 6
Kiel: 5, 7, 8
Lubeck: 5, 7
Mainz: 37
Marburg: 12
Munich: 5, 6, 7, 37
Munster: 4, 6
Neuherberg: 5
Regensburg: 35
Saarbrucken: 5
HAITI
Port au Prince: 3
INDIA
Bangalore: 33
IRELAND
Dublin: 4, 6, 36
ISRAEL
Rehovot: 37
ITALY
Rome: 4, 6
JAPAN
Kobe: 13
Kyoto: 22
Sendai: 22, 24
Shizuoka: 16
Tokyo: 22
NETHERLANDS
Delft: 27
Nijmegen: 4
Utrecht: 25, 35
NORWAY
Oslo: 5
SINGAPORE
Connexis: 1
Proteos: 15
Singapore: 8, 15
SOUTH KOREA
Daejeon: 1
SPAIN
Barcelona: 4, 36
SWEDEN
Gothenburg: 4
Stockholm: 4, 6
Umea: 6
SWITZERLAND
Basel: 18, 28
Lausanne: 18
Villigen: 36
Zurich: 18
UNITED KINGDOM
Bath: 6
Bristol: 4
Cambridge: 4, 28
Dundee: 4
Glasgow: 4
London: 4
Manchester: 4, 6
Oxford: 4, 26
Reading: 9
Sheffield: 4
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
California
La Jolla: 23
Pasadena: 3
San Francisco: 41
Stanford: 26
Colorado
Boulder: 20
Golden: 3
Connecticut
New Haven: 2, 29
Georgia
Atlanta: 20
Hawaii
Honolulu: 20
Illinois
Chicago: 10
Urbana: 1
Iowa
Des Moines: 21
Maryland
Baltimore: 24
Bethesda: 19
Frederick: 19
Massachusetts
Boston: 10, 15, 20, 31
Cambridge: 1, 23, 31, 33
Medford: 1
Waltham: 10
Woods Hole: 10
Worcester: 10
Michigan
Ann Arbor: 5, 7, 8
Detroit: 7
Minnesota
Minneapolis: 21
Mississippi
Jackson: 2
Missouri
St Louis: 7, 8
New Hampshire
New Jersey
Newark: 30
Piscataway: 39
New York
Bronx: 11
Cold Spring Harbor: 32, 33
New York: 14, 28, 39, 40
Rochester: 23, 29
Stony Brook: 40
Upton: 40
Ohio
Cleveland: 2
Monroe: 21
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 10, 11, 21
Tennessee
Memphis: 21
Utah
Salt Lake City: 7
Virginia
Ashburn: 32
Wisconsin
Madison: 20
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)
Carrie Meggs
Tel: +1 617 475 9241
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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